Seven wild spectacles

Bearded tits, ancient yews, roosting rooks and more

1 BEARDED TIT

This exotic-looking passerine spends its entire life in reedbeds. ‘Bearded tit’ is something of a misnomer – it’s not a member of the tit family, and the male sports a bold black moustache, not a beard. Listen for distinctive nasal ‘pings’ as the birds flit about reedbeds in coastal south, east and north-west England, or observe them at grit trays, put out at reserves such as Leighton Moss in Lancashire, where they eat stones to help break down their winter diet of seeds. BEST SPOT RSPB Dungeness Kent

2 ANCIENT YEW

This evergreen tree stands out in winter with its small, dark green needles and scarlet, berrylike fruits, which are a popular winter food for small mammals and about 10 species of bird. Yews are surrounded by much folklore and have long been associated with churchyards. Britain has some of Europe’s most ancient yew trees, many of which are in Wales including the Llangernyw Yew, which could be 4,000 years old.

BEST SPOT Llangernyw North Wales

3 BADGER

Brock gives birth this month, though it will be April or May before young cubs venture above ground. Typically a litter consists of two or three cubs, but can be as many as five. Look out for old winter bedding appearing outside setts as females replace it with fresh material. Another telltale badger sign is the clusters of dung-filled pits that mark a group’s territory. Badgers that are fed regularly, for example at B&Bs or reserves such as WWT Caerlaverock, may keep visiting all winter.

BEST SPOT WWT Caerlaverock Dumfries & Galloway

4 SNOWDROP

The appearance of snowdrops, one of the most welcome early signs of spring, is presaged by hardened leaf-tips piercing frozen soil. Snowdrops may not be native to Britain, but they’re now widespread in woodlands, parks and gardens. Because pollinating insects are scarce when snowdrops flower, most reproduction occurs through bulb division rather than seed production. In recent decades blooms have been appearing progressively earlier – possibly an indicator of our changing climate.

BEST SPOT NT Dunham Massey Cheshire

5 ROOK

Mass assemblies of rooks are dramatic midwinter sights. Typically roosting in woods and copses, rooks often gather in farmland before they move together into the trees, their swirling black forms darkening the winter sky. Many thousands of birds mingle at the largest roosts, possibly up to 80,000 at Buckenham Marshes. In February nest-building begins – this corvid starts nesting early, well before the first leaves appear on the trees.

BEST SPOT RSPB Buckenham Marshes Norfolk

6 PIED WAGTAIL

These small, hyperactive birds, with their distinctive black-and-white plumage and bobbing tails, are a familiar sight as they dash across pavements, lawns and car parks in search of food. In winter large numbers roost in urban areas, often assembling on rooftops before settling in bushes or trees above the heads of passing shoppers. Gathering in huge roosts of up to 4,000 birds may provide protection against the cold or against nocturnal predators such as owls.

BEST SPOT York city centre

7 SNIPE

Scan patiently at the edges of wetland in winter and you may, with luck, be rewarded with a sighting of this exquisitely camouflaged, bulky-looking species. Snipe numbers are boosted by winter migrants from Northern Europe joining resident birds. This elusive wader uses its extremely long, straight bill to probe mud for worms, insects and crustaceans. If disturbed, it gives a croaking call and darts away with a characteristic zigzag flight. If you spot one individual, it’s worth searching for more – snipe are often found in numbers, though their ability to blend in beautifully with marsh vegetation can make locating them quite a challenge.

BEST SPOT RSPB West Sedgemoor Somerset