Winter’s greatest natural spectacles

Hibernating butterflies:

Keep an eye out for brimstones among ivy, a cryptic Comma masquerading as a dead leaf in between tangles of honeysuckle, and peacocks and tortoise shells nestling in log piles.

Seals:

Winter is pupping season for the grey seal. At a month old, mothers will leave pups on beaches to learn to swim and fish. Keep your distance – they are wild animals and can bite.

The hive awakes:

Place an ear to a beehive around now, and you may hear the low hum of worker bees starting to wake from hibernation. Some will emerge soon to forage for winter-flowering plants.

A bit of honesty:

Known as moonpennies, the winter seedheads of the Lunaria annua are semi-round, transparent and lustrous as they catch the light of a bright winter’s day. Spot them growing wild in clumps on open ground and hedgerows.

Snowdrop spectacular:

The emergence of snowdrops in January and February are among the first signs of life in the garden. Six million of them are resident at the National Trust’s Kingston Lacy, Dorset.

Colourful waxwings:

These social creatures, whose plumage contains splashes of red and yellow, can be seen passing berries down a line to share out.

Brent geese migration:

These birds, which nest in the Arctic tundra, arrive in UK estuaries in large groups in winter. Flying in wavering lines or groups, they search for new marsh, grass or farmland to rest and feed on, before moving on at dusk.