SPECIES TO LOOK OUT FOR
Whooper swan
Slightly smaller than our resident mute swans, but with a long, principally yellow bill, which gives them a ‘Roman-nosed’ appearance, whooper swans spend the breeding season on the Icelandic tundra. Autumn sees the entire population migrating south to pass winter in the flooded fields, grazing marshes and inland lakes of Britain and Ireland.
Wigeon
The chestnut head, yellow forehead and pink breast make the drake wigeon immediately identifiable. Coming from breeding sites in Scandinavia and northern Russia to the ice-free British coasts for the winter, this avowed vegetarian finds an abundance of plant material on offer at grazing marshes.
Snipe
Cryptically camouflaged brown, buff and black, the snipe’s obvious distinguishing feature is that long, straight bill used to probe for its invertebrate prey. With British-breeding snipe moving south and south-west in autumn, those on winter grazing marshes in northern England and Scotland may be of Icelandic, Faroese or northEuropean origin.
Lapwing
Instantly identifiable in flight by its butterfly-like, black-and-white wings, and on the ground by a dark green back and pale belly, the lapwing is a common all-year sight around Britain. However, those seen overwintering here tend to be mostly birds escaping the much colder conditions encountered anywhere from the near continent across to Russia.
Short-eared owl
With its long, brown wings, pale face and staring, yellow eyes, the ‘shortie’ is our only owl to regularly hunt in broad daylight. The resident population of this specialised predator of small mammals is then joined by owls from across the North Sea in autumn, with the best grazing marshes often holding a number of owls all winter.