Anja Murray: Charismatic waterbirds arriving from afar this winter

One of the best things about October is the return of wintering birds, each species with their own backstory and life strategies

Anja Murray: "Barnacle geese, pink footed geese, graylag geese and brent geese all start arriving in October, having navigated over vast landmasses and oceans without any modern technology, still following the routes that their ancestors have flown for thousands of years. Some spend the winter feeding on seagrass and algae along coastal wetlands and estuaries, as well as football fields and parklands where grazing is good."

As October arrives, so too are thousands of wintering birds.

Small songbirds, including blackbirds from Norway and Sweden, come here to escape the intense cold of their homeland, though these are not generally regarded as migratory birds.