15/12/2025
Winter bird migrants 🐦
We know some birds only visit Britain during summer. But some folk are surprised to learn that we also get winter migrants. After all, it's cold and wet here during winter, so what's the attraction, right?
But these species have travelled south from the arctic, rather than north from Africa. Yes, our winters seem cold, wet and miserable. But when the alternative is frozen sea ice, starvation and almost zero daylight, then you can see why flying a bit further south can be a good idea.
In fact, finding winter migrant birds is one of the highlights of my guided birding trips at this time of year. Possible species include snow bunting, whooper swan, long-tailed duck, scoters, fieldfares and redwings.
Waxwings are another good, and colourful example which you can learn about in the blog: https://arcguiding.com/blog/nature/waxwing/
