Winter Wildlife in the UK: Seal Pups, Starlings and Wild Swans

Winter is not a dead season for wildlife in Britain. In some ways it is the best of the year: grey seals come ashore to have their pups, huge flocks of starlings gather to roost, and wild geese and swans arrive from the Arctic to spend the winter here. All three are free or cheap to see, and all of them make a good reason for a winter break.

At a glance

Seal pups: late October to January, best in late November and early December. Starlings: November to February, at dusk. Wild swans and geese: through the winter at WWT reserves. Cost: mostly free or low.

Grey seal pups

Blakeney Point, Norfolk

England's largest grey seal colony, with thousands of pups born between late October and mid-January. The point is closed to walkers during pupping, so the way to see it is by boat from Morston Quay, near Blakeney, with operators running trips through the winter.

Horsey, Norfolk

At Horsey, seals give birth on the beach right below the dunes from roughly November to February. The beach is closed during the season, but roped viewing areas on top of the dunes give excellent views without disturbing them.

Donna Nook, Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust runs a viewing area at the foot of the dunes where around two thousand pups are born each season. Numbers usually build from mid-November, with the peak in late November and early December. Louth is the nearest town.

Seal watching rules

Keep your distance, keep dogs on a lead and away, and never get between a mother and pup. Disturbance can cause a mother to abandon her pup.

Starling murmurations

From about November to February, starlings gather in their tens or hundreds of thousands at dusk, swirling in shifting shapes before dropping into their roost.

Where to see them

The largest are over the reedbeds of the Somerset Levels at RSPB Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath, near Glastonbury. Others gather around the ruined West Pier in Brighton, over Gretna, and at RSPB Leighton Moss near Silverdale. Roosts move, so check recent sightings before you travel, and arrive half an hour before sunset.

Wild swans and geese

The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust reserves are the places for the winter arrivals. Slimbridge on the Severn hosts Bewick's swans from Arctic Russia; Martin Mere near Burscough in Lancashire has whooper swans and huge numbers of pink-footed geese; and Caerlaverock on the Solway takes in barnacle geese from Svalbard. Feeding sessions at dusk are the best time to visit.

What to bring

Binoculars make all three spectacles far better. Dress for standing still in the cold, which is colder than walking in it, and remember that murmurations and wildfowl flights happen around dusk, when the light goes fast and paths can be muddy.

For more ideas, see our guides to wildlife staycations and winter staycations.