Winter on the Wolds

Colin Smale takes a walk through the Lincolnshire Wolds to capture the area’s natural beauty and wildlife.

I have realised that the Lincolnshire Wolds in December may seem hushed and bare, yet there is a quiet richness to be found in this winter landscape.

With the trees stripped of leaves and fields lying still, wildlife is thrown into sharper relief, and every movement catches the eye against the muted palette of chalk grassland and hedgerow.

Winter thrushes are among the most visible visitors. Redwings and fieldfares, fresh from Scandinavia, sweep into the valleys in chattering flocks, stripping the hawthorn and holly of their last berries.

Alongside them, resident blackbirds and song thrushes feed greedily, adding their voices to the seasonal chorus. Above, a buzzard may rise into the pale sky, wings catching the low sun, while the unmistakable forked tail of a red kite drifts across the horizon.

Bird life
On the open fields, sudden flurries of lapwings and golden plovers burst into the air, wheeling in unison like smoke caught by the wind.

As dusk falls, the Wolds reveal some of their most atmospheric encounters. The pale form of a barn owl glides silently over rough grassland, a fleeting ghost against the frost. Occasionally, a short-eared owl joins the hunt, its golden eyes alert for movement below – a winter gift from the north.

Other signs of life are subtle, written into the land itself. Hare silhouettes sit hunched on ridge tops, while the slot marks of roe deer cross muddy gateways. Even the smallest creatures make themselves known: a sudden burst of song from a robin in the hedgerow, or the restless flicker of a wren among tangled roots.

To walk the Wolds in December is to discover a landscape alive with understatement. Here, in the stillness of winter, the rhythms of nature continue – quieter, slower, yet no less compelling.

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