CUMBRIA Wildlife Trust has produced a guide to wildlife spotting in the county’s hills, valleys, woodlands and the coast during the winter.
Great Places to See Winter Wildlife in Cumbria advises lovers of the outdoors to look out for migratory birds which specialise in finding food.
The salt marshes and mud flats of Morecambe Bay attract thousands of migratory birds, and South Walney is the perfect place to see them. Flocks of oystercatcher, redshank, dunlin and knot roosting at high tide or wheeling around in the low sunlight can be seen at this time of year.
The guide advises that Grey Seals haul out on the spit and can be seen playing in the Walney Channel.
And at Smardale Gill Nature Reserve, near Kirkby Stephen, abundant fruit and berries make for a great winter wildlife spectacle while Dippers are attracted to the beck and buzzard, green woodpecker and winter tit are seen in the woods.
The guide advises that winter is also a chance to enjoy the form of deciduous trees and the squirrels that hide in them.
And when the sun hits the Whitbarrow massif in the winter, the white trunks of thousands of birch trees are caught in the light. Look out for flocks of redwing and fieldfare when the yew berries are ripe.
Great Places to See Winter Wildlife in Cumbria, is available at www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk.
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