Hello everyone!
In short, if you recall, I’m a snake enthusiast. Autumn is just around the corner, which means snakes are getting ready to hibernate. Since I only started looking for snakes and other animals this past spring, I somehow got the impression that during autumn and winter, all the animals simply vanish and go into hibernation. So, I’d like to ask: what do naturalists actually do during the colder months?
(I live in Europe)
We finally get some sleep. Or maybe clean the house?
Actually, I make lots of IDs for others, I volunteer at a local herbarium, and I finally get around to IDing and labeling my moss specimens I don’t get to during the field season. But I’m a generalist; I can go out in mid-winter and make plant observations.
It is only autumn in the northern hemisphere. Theres a whole southern hemisphere to visit that experiences springtime while we experience autumn.
I’m planning a vacation to the global south now that I have a stable career. I dunno if I’ll have the money this year, but the planning keeps me busy.
Autumn is good for watching migrating birds, and if you want a real challenge, you can attempt to identify fall plumage migrating warblers.
Early autumn can be better than summer for seeing pond turtles, because in colder weather they need to spend more time out of the water sunning on logs (but try not to get close enough to scare them back in.)
If you know where to look, you might find snakes gathering in large numbers just before hibernating.
If you live where there’s snow in winter, that’s a great time to observe animal tracks.
Some owls begin nesting in winter, so it can be a particularly active time for owl calls. I love walking through snow covered woods on a still moonlit night, listening to owls and coyotes singing.
Try to look for animals that are out and about, rather than disturbing those that are hibernating or sheltering in protected locations (please don’t flip logs or rocks once the weather turns cold.)
Oh my goodness, no! There are so many critters out and about in the winter!
Autumn is the very best time for photographing large mammals like deer, elk, and bighorn sheep, because this is when they mate. Their mating ritual is called “the rut”, and people who love the large mammals wait eagerly all year for the fall ruts to come around. Elk, Moose, and Pronghorn rut in September, while Deer and Bighorn Sheep rut mostly in November. Most people who live in the United States have populations of Whitetail Deer living right in their area, so you can mark October 20 thru November 20 as a time to go out looking to see mating behavior.
Winter is one of the best times to observe birds, as the season brings many bird species to their furthest point south. So, depending on where you live, you will have species in your area from December thru February that spend the rest of their life way up in the arctic, or in the boreal forests of Canada.
If you live near an ocean coast, trips to the beach in mid-winter can be fabulous for seeing sea ducks, gulls, seals, and shorebirds such as Purple Sandpipers.
There is just SO MUCH WILDLIFE to go see in the fall and winter months! Here is a tiny sample of some of the critters I have found and photographed at these cooler times of year:
I live in Dagestan—which is in Europe—and I’m 14, so my parents likely won’t want to let me go very far from the city. But as I understand it, I’ll at least be able to look for birds during the winter and autumn.
I just looked up your location - Dagestan is right along the Caspian Sea! Wow!
I realize that you are not very mobile now, because of your age, but in a few years when you have your own car and are able to drive, I bet that trips to the coast of the Caspian Sea will provide you with a great diversity of winter wildlife!
What is your username on iNaturalist? I would like to check out some of your observations, particularly those of the snakes that you enjoy so much.
I haven’t had much luck finding animals so far.
I’ve found only five species of snakes all season.
Just come to the south and all season is an endless field season for whatever you are interested in,
(This is a joke, I was born in Buffalo NY which shattered the all-time New York State 24-hour snowfall record by recording 66.0 inches of snow in a single day in 2022, I’m no stranger to the cold)
Snakes might be difficult in the winter but birds and mammals often abound and tracking them can be just as fun. Cold-weather insects can be tricky, but if you get into it is often rewarding. I recommend doing some online searching and referencing your local area, you will get much better results than from a broader user base.
Speaking of cold weather insects…they’re not actually insects, but springtails are closely related. They seem more tolerant of cold temperatures than most hexapods (insects and not-quite-insects); I spotted many at the edge of a pond in February (late winter in my area). Ergo, if you know where to look, they’re the most reliable winter “bugs”. Even the big ones that don’t get frightened and move or spring away too much require getting really close with a camera capable of a close zoom, though, if you don’t have a macro camera. There’s a variety called “snow fleas” that are very conspicuous on snow, but I haven’t seen any personally.
Springtails are a good point, but I actually wasn’t thinking of them. It turns out:
The primary groups of insects that remain active or semi-active during a Caspian winter include:
1. Coastal Rove Beetles (Paederus fuscipes)
- Non-Biting Midges (Chironomidae)
- Overwintering Mosquitoes (Aedes and Culex species)
- Coastal Marsh Predators (Aquatic Nymphs)
- Semi-Active Brackish Water Larvae (Chironomidae)
- Some locust and larvae overwintering
I live in france, and i don’t stop wildlife observations during the colder months, although things do slow down a bit (good time to catch up on the hundreds of observations from the warmer months that i haven’t posted yet)
During the cold season i spend some time looking for birds, including some migratory species that are only here during this part of the year.
I look for ground and leaf litter animals such as springtails someone mentionned above and myriapods, and for spiders in old buildings around the farm.
I’ve made some amphibian observations during the colder months. While species slow down or hibernate, i’ve found newts and salamander larvae in forest ponds during winter.
i also dont neglect signs animals leave behind: feathers, tracks in the snow, droppings, feeding signs like gnawed pine cones, nests, and other traces of animal activity. it’s a different way of finding wildlife when you’re not seeing the animals themselves but it can be interesting as well and get you some observations for species you’d have a harder time seeing directly
i did some lake diving during autumn, saw a lot of fishes and crayfishes but you have to be okay with cold water x) maybe you’d have fun doing some beach combing and tidepooling if you live near the sea, i havent had the opportunity to do it during the cold season yet but i’m sure there still are a lot of stuff to see
Also if you’re open to looking beyond animals autumn and winter are great seasons to get into mushrooms, lichens, mosses, evergreen plants… I particularly enjoy looking for lichens because they’re everywhere regardless of the weather, and there are so many different species to discover, same goes for mosses though i dont do these as much because i havent learned to id them yet and no one ever id mine on iNat lol
Some of the less well known Heleomyzidae flies are out in the winter, even when there is snow on the ground. Fence posts that are catching the sun are good places to look, also corpses of mammals.
Look at what is observed in your region during winter (November to Februar I picked here)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?month=1,2,11,12&nelat=44.992521&nelng=48.592652&swlat=41.75896735503029&swlng=46.53623820659504&view=species
even some reptiles, many arthropods.. lots an lots of birds. You might want to reduce the map area more to your local area to get an even better idea of what might be doable even in winter.