The hoards of wintering wildfowl have winged their way southwards from the cold north. Often migrants wait for weather systems to push them along and often some species do not move until cold weather prevails.some only fly south if the weather is bad and often stay in the north, while others instinctively migrate as the days shorten.Here,dark bellied Brent geese(Branta bernica) come in to Keyhaven , a great bird place on the edge of the New forest on the English south coast.
These birds arrive in thousands from Northern Russia and the wild sound of their musical flight call is emotional to me. Also are thousands of Black Tailed Godwits (limosa limosa).The pic below shows them in their summer plumage, a warm buff breast.
This specimen is in its winter plumage and was killed by a shotgun blast, with a severed leg and broken wing, it managed to get to the safe haven of Brownsea island, where it was found by a warden, unfortunately it did not survive the help from a bird hospital, its wounds were too severe.
Note how the lower mandible is shorter than the top and has a slight scoop on the end.The bill tip is also soft and pliable, a trait that many waders have.
There are still many spiders of the genus Araneus about.These are usually annual spiders dying off when the cold weather comes, leaving their hardy egg sacks to over winter and hatch early summer next year, but smaller juveniles continue to grow and some may make it to the spring, but will there be a mature male waiting ?
This Araneus diadematus is on the outside of my kitchen window.