With the long, dark nights, and chilly temperatures winter is certainly here now. And with it, winter brings some truly amazing wildlife spectacles. So why not find one for yourself this weekend?
A pink sky
I’m off to Wash. Hopefully I’ll be able to see one of my favourite wildlife spectacles – huge flocks of pink-footed geese.
They’re just, well, awesome! For me you can’t beat standing watching thousands of pinkies calling to each other as they fly in their v-shaped skeins over my head: a cacophony of ‘winking’ and wing beats.
Winking you say? As pink-feet fly, they call to each other with a distinctive wink-wink call. The only way to top it is then heading off for a well earned bacon sarnie!
But you don’t have to get up early, they’ll return in the evening and that’s just as inspiring in my mind. As the light fades from the sky, watching thousands of geese fly in to roost is magical.
Take a trip to Snettisham, that’s a top spot for the pinkies, plus there’s lots of other estuary birds about too. Wrap up warm though!
Roosts and leaves
It’s not just geese though, even if they are my favourite. Starling roosts too are simply awe-inspiring as they thousands, even millions in some spots, darken the sky and sway the reeds. Top spots for this are down at our Ham Wall reserve, but there’s other spots all over the UK.
Alternatively, there’s still a lot of leaves left on the trees, so why not head down to your local wood, kick your way through the fallen leaves and marvel at the reds, golds, oranges and browns above your head.
Why not get outdoors?
Whatever your spectacle, you can find one to suit you on our website. Why not get out this weekend and find something to amaze?
For more on our science, check out the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science web pages.