You’re the swan that I want

We may think December is cold, but in reality, over most of the country, the temperatures of our island nation are rarely low enough to freeze substantial bodies of water, and the ground stays soft and therefore ‘feedable’ (by birds) for most of the time. On the continent, even quite far south in Europe, the temperatures are consistently well below freezing. All this means that water-loving birds choose to cross the sea and take advantage of our moderate climate. Swans, geese and ducks come in by the hundreds of thousands (in total). Whooper Swans (above) and Bewick’s Swans are mainly arctic breeders, and winter here by the thousand (c11,000 Whoopers and 7,000 Bewick’s), though both are localised to an extent. Similarly, huge numbers of Pink-footed Geese (360,000, especially near large estuaries like The Wash, Solway and Ribble, and the Scottish east coast) winter in the UK, as well as 100,000 Brent Geese (almost exclusively around the coast) and similar numbers of Barnacle Geese (mainly around the Solway Firth and Islay). Dabbling ducks, such as Wigeon,

Shoveler, Teal and the glorious Pintail are now in much larger numbers than earlier in the year. And our diving duck populations, dominated by Tufted Ducks and Pochards, are bolstered by great boosts in the numbers of Goldeneye, Scaup and Goosander. Cold snaps bring Smew, especially to the east and south-east of England. Meanwhile, our seas are host to rafts of Common and Velvet Scoters, plus Eiders, Long-tailed Ducks and Red-breasted Mergansers. Get out and see them (and tick them!)