Brambling

Hungry migrant bramblings, over a quarter of a million of which visit Britain in a typical year can often be seen on garden bird feeders. By late January the buff tips of their feathers are fading, revealing the more strident hues of the male breeding plumage – orange on the chest and shoulders, black and grey on the head and neck.

Mistletoe

Bare leafless trees reveal shaggy clumps of this curious semi-parasitic plant, typically in apple trees, poplars or limes. Since mistletoe is evergreen, its untidy mass of oval leaves offers welcome shelter to overwintering invertebrates.
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Eurasian Bullfinch

It’s unusual to encounter a lone bird – a pair is far more likely, in the depths of winter as well as during the breeding season. The male and female constantly whistle to each other to stay in touch in thick hedgerows or scrubby woodland – a soft ‘pew, pew’. Your first glimpse is often of flashing white rumps.

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Gorse

​Being evergreen, gorse offers valuable winter shelter to spiders and other invertebrates, as well as hibernating reptiles.

Great Tit

​Great tits are the biggest and bolshiest members of their family, so they’re higher in the pecking order than other tits at our garden bird feeders. in the winter flocks, males are also dominant over females – you can easily tell the sees apart, as the former have a thicker black belly stripe.

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Crab Apple

January is traditionally the month for wassailing, the hopeful pagan custom in which apple trees are blessed with song and dance to ensure good times ahead. However, the true native apple is the crab apple: a shorter, naturally thorny tree with small, tart red or yellow fruit. It is an ideal garden tree, and now is planting season.

Beard Lichen

​These wonderful lichens hang off tree trunks and branches in great beardy tufts. Their filigree form (known as ‘fruticose’) captures rain and dew, so frequently glistens – stand underneath and there is a constant patter of dripping water. The side of a tree with the most luxurious growth indicates the direction of the prevailing wind.

To read Amanda Hopwood's interesting and detailed article on winter and early spring flowers - click here