Midwinter can be a very exciting time for birdwatchers. Fleeing bitterly cold weather in their arctic breeding grounds millions of wildfowl and waders from untamed tundra arrive in the UK to spend the winter on our wetlands and marshes. Thrushes, such as Redwings and Fieldfares descend on berry-laden hedges in hordes and are sometimes joined by the Waxwing. Snow Buntings, the world most northerly breeding song bird, arrive on our beaches where they flit around the strandline like snowflakes dancing in the wind. If you are lucky, a white shape on a desolate heath may transform itself into a masked sentinel, proudly sitting atop a dead conifer: A Great-grey Shrike. Perhaps the most pulse-racing of all our winter visitors, however, are the raptors - owls and birds of prey. Hen Harriers leave their moorland breeding grounds to drift silently, as grey ghosts, through the marshes of southern England sending clouds of terrified ducks into the air wherever they go whilst the nimble mini sparrowhawk the Merlin flushes out Skylarks from the rough grass and matches their every desperate turn, the two locked in a deadly ballet on the calm, frosty winter mornings. Finally, as dusk encroaches over a wetland and the anxious whistling of Teal and ticking of Blackbirds fill the soundscape, a brown, mottled shape, with slow, smooth wingbeats glides low over the tussocky sedges in the ever increasing gloom. This is a Short-eared Owl, which has journeyed from the barren, stony grasslands in northern Scandinavia or the remote Scottish isles.
Sadly, bitingly cold frosty mornings filled with the whistles, hoots and honks of wildfowl and wild swans, waxwings gorging on the rowan berries and short-eared owls quartering the marshes in tens are in danger of becoming a mere romantic fantasy. As our winters become milder and wetter, our arctic breeding wildfowl no longer needs to make the migration across the North Sea and many species such as Bewick's Swan, Smew and Tundra Bean Goose are now wintering in continental Europe instead. Since 1990, the British wintering population of Bewick's Swans has decreased from 29,000 to 18,000 whereas in Germany and the Netherlands the wintering population of swans has been steadily increasing. Whereas in the 1980's it was not uncommon to record Smew flocks of over 60 birds on inland reservoirs, nowadays a flock over 10 individuals anywhere in the country is very notable and once the best place in the country to see the species, Dungeness RSPB, has not had a single sighting for almost 2 years. As recently as 5 years ago around 7 Short-eared Owls were being reported at a single location near me however a series of wet winters and flooding reduced the vole population in the meadows and the owls have not been seen at all for the past 2 years. Other historical strongholds have seen only 2 or 3 owls this winter when ten years ago (at one location in particular) there were 12.
Of course large numbers of our winter visitors may still return in periods of unusually cold weather (e.g Beast from the East in February/March 2018) but their regular occurrence during the winter is becoming increasingly unpredictable and with our climate steadily getting warmer, it will be unlikely to see a reversal in these declines. Make the most of our magical winter bird life whilst it is still there, and some photos are included (taken winter of 2021/22) which show just a few of the many amazing species which it is possible to see.
* I have seen this Winter Barnacle and White-fronted Geese and a Hen Harrier, although I was unable to take photos of them.
Snow Bunting. One of a flock of 5 that was feeding along the beach.
Short-eared Owl - a very special encounter with this amazing species close to home one evening
Turnstone, one of many migratory arctic breeding species which spend the winter on our shores
A Short-eared Owl flypast in some golden light
A Winter scene of a flock of Grey Plovers seeking refuge from the rising tide, before resuming the important business of feeding on the mudflats. A couple of Redshank are amongst them
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