Winter is a great time of year to look out for wildfowl in wetland areas – ducks, geese and swans are all around the British Isles in greater numbers over our colder months as they will have moved south on the search for food and unfrozen feeding grounds. Male ducks, or drakes, especially will be looking their best in very early spring, as they swap their winter plumage for brighter breeding feathers, ready for mating displays.

When the birds leave to go back north they tend to do so all together and all in one go, so large flocks might be seen. Over winter though they may keep moving south any time areas freeze over, which forces them to look for unfrozen ponds or areas without snow cover. This is why they may seem to arrive or pass through Alderney in dribs and drabs or in small flocks during cold snaps on the mainland. One of the most striking of these winter arrivals is the Teal, males with their rusty coloured head and bright green (or teal) eye-patch and females with their bright wing patch, UK numbers increase a hundredfold over winter so they are ones to look out for on ponds and wetland areas at this time of year.