There is something truly beautiful about the hushed, muted tones of a winter landscape. Glimmering frost highlights the sculptural beauty of our surroundings, wetland pools like mirrors, grass and tree branches against a pinky blue sky in the low sun.
Wildlife can be easier to spot now too. Although winter is the time of hibernation and sleep for many, much of our wildlife is as bustlingly busy as ever, working hard to find a meal and safe place to roost.
Whether you’ve resolved to get out and enjoy more of Yorkshire’s unique wildlife this December, or need a winter walk with a difference, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s reserves have plenty to offer.
Winter goldfinch. Image: Sean Jones Finches and winter visitors often form flocks during the winter to look for and improve their chances of finding food. A wander around York’s Askham Bog or North Cliffe wood near Market Weighton might find you surrounded by blue, great, coal and long-tailed tits. Goldcrests flit around in the high branches alongside treecreepers. Chaffinches could be joined by the autumnal-hued bramblings which visit woodlands and gardens in winter from Scandinavia. Look out for the classic winter flock of siskins, redpolls and goldfinches, all hungrily diving and feeding among the evergreens and winter seed heads.
Take a walk around winter fields or upland fringes, anywhere with a profusion of berries and there’s a good chance you’ll see flocks of winter thrushes. Our native birds are joined each winter by redwing, with their distinctive eye stripe and red or orange streak below the wing, alongside beautifully patterned fieldfares.
Waxwings can be mistaken at a distance for starlings but on closer inspection, these slimmer, buff coloured glamour-birds with a sharp eyeliner and smart crest make short, raucous work of winter fruits. They can be spotted anywhere from a city centre to a nature reserve, though numbers visiting from Scandinavia and western Russia each year are unpredictable.
Describing a starling murmuration rarely does it justice it’s best thing to see it for yourself. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Ripon City Wetlands nature reserve and nearby Staveley nature reserve are some of the best places to spot them, easily enjoyed from Staveley’s central hill on the reserve. Birds will start to gather around thirty minutes from sunset and can be seen performing across the reserve until they descend into the reedbeds to roost – flattening them in the process.
It wouldn’t be winter without a cacophony of waders and wetland birds – and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has a wealth of wetland nature reserves that resound with impressive, noisy flybys over the colder months. Our wetlands are teaming with life in the winter; from geese, ducks, and plovers to oystercatchers and bitterns. Potteric Carr, Staveley, Ripon City Wetlands, and North Cave Wetlands are all wild paradises – fringed by reedbeds reflecting a bright and cold sky. Wheldrake Ings hay meadow is usually flooded at this time of year, but stand at the edge and watch teal, wigeon, geese and the occasional peregrine zipping by.
Owls are some of our most captivating birds. Easier to spot as they hunt at dawn and dusk, they retain a sense of mystery. In many cases, the sound of a far-off owl is far more common than the sight. Many living in close proximity to a particularly large old tree will tell of the familiar, talkative and rich call of a tawny owl or two echoing through the night. An early morning or late evening ramble through farmland might be interrupted by the eerie call of a barn owl, or the mewling call of a little owl.
Yorkshire is a nationallysignificant county for owls, with 16 per cent of the British breeding barn owl population, and 15 per cent of the British breeding little owl population. Many of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s reserves are fantastic for owls – but keep an eye out at Staveley Nature Reserve for our resident barn owl, humorously angry-looking little owls at North Cave Wetlands and Skerne nature reserves, and if you’re very quiet, short-eared owls could be spotted at Spurn or Flamborough.
A HELPING HAND
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s staff and volunteers are out all year round caring for over 100 nature reserves, from the rolling hills of Ingleborough to the white chalk cliffs of Flamborough, with woodlands, wetlands and urban spaces in between. The work we do makes a tangible difference for wildlife every day; restoring homes and recovering populations of threatened species like water voles, curlew and rare plants. We rely on the support of our members and on public donations to make a difference – help us make Yorkshire wilder, join us or give wildlife a gift this Christmas. ywt.org.uk
