Amazing winter birds

Now the cold season has arrived, visit one of these top locations to see birds in spectacular numbers

- HELENA CARTWRIGHT

Winter is a wonderful time of year to wrap up and see amazing migrant birds in the wild. Darker nights and falling temperatures mean our spring migrant birds fly south to warmer climes, while others head here to avoid the chill in their northern breeding grounds. You can see them around the UK, including at Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) reserves, complete with trails and hides.

Barnacle geese

Appearance: Medium-sized goose with a blackhead, neck and breast, a creamy white face and belly, blue-grey barred back and black tail. Arriving from both Greenland and Svalbard, flying in long, noisy lines, Barnacle geese sound as if they are barking at each other! These birds begin life in their Arctic breeding grounds by having to plunge from steep cliff nesting sites. Their winter migration means flying thousands of miles, so arriving here in the UK is a huge feat.

Where can you see them? Around the coast in Scotland, Ireland and north-west England on the Solway Firth. Visit RSPB Mersehead (Dumfries) for a chance to watch them in huge numbers. Most barnacle geese are here between October and March, although some stay into mid-April.

Bewick’s swan