It may sometimes appear that there's little wildlife to see at this time of year, but in fact there's plenty going on if you know where to look. We've got some great places that make a great backdrop for wildlife spotting.
Birds
The arrival of winter is heralded by the first flocks of winter thrushes (fieldfares and redwings) from Scandinavia our parks and wookdland create the perfect winter habitat, especially on open fields and grasslands of our parks and surrounding estates. A great place to spot winter birds is in mature hedges as they search out winter berries.
Help out the winter birds in your garden by putting out bird feeders or fat balls, not only are you helping your garden birds to thrive but it also means you get a closer look!
Attract more feathered visitors to your garden (and keep them well fed!) with this simple pine cone feeder.
Head out into open fields and parkland and you might just spot a flock of golden plover or lapwing. Our resident birds are joined by huge numbers of migratory birds moving into “warmer” Britain from further north and east. The same applies to the large winter roosts of starlings sometimes seen as swirling flocks or “murmurations” coming to roost.
Starlings taking to the sky over Sudbury lake
Mike Knowles
Starlings taking to the sky over Sudbury lake
Mammals
Many mammals will be spending the winter either hibernating (bats, dormouse, hedgehogs to a degree) or only appearing when the conditions are fair or when they are driven out into the snow by hunger (badgers, squirrels).
Hazel dormouse Wenlock Edge
National Trust Images
Hazel dormouse Wenlock Edge
Trees
Our deciduous trees will also be “hibernating” when they shut down for winter having lost their leaves. This is a good time to appreciate the huge girth and splendour of our ancient trees, especially in our parklands where some are a 1000 years or more old.
The silhouette of a tree against the low morning sun at Calke
National Trust/Ben Robinson
The silhouette of a tree against the low morning sun at Calke
Finches
Winter is the time of year to look out for flocks of colourful finches, either moving atop trees or feeding on the ground where there is spilled grain or other food. Look out for goldfinch, chaffinch, greenfinch and siskin in particular and amongst them smaller numbers of brambling or reed bunting. If you happen to walk by a yew tree it may well be being guarded by a noisy mistle thrush (“trrrrrr, trrrrrr” call) chasing away other birds attempting to steal what it considers to be its berries!