What cheers you up in the gloomier months?

As the days get shorter and the temperature drops, we all need a bit of cheering up from time to time. And nature can do that!

We asked around the staff team and beyond for things that brighten your day during autumn and winter.

Jane Wigan, Events & Course Officer

At a time when open landscapes can feel stripped back and exposed to the elements, seedheads provide the promise that nature is just sleeping and will return in a few months’ time. Spikey Teasels and the fanned out umbellifers of Hogweed break up the landscape and give a softness to our road verges. Somehow, they manage to avoid the general rot and decay going on around them and can take quite a buffeting from the wind. It is uplifting to see that gardeners are beginning to see the beauty of seedheads, leaving them in their borders over the winter which in turn provides food for birds and protective homes for invertebrates. The best time to admire them is at dusk, when they really stand out against a grey sky.

Ros Moss, Individual Giving Officer

I love a cold and frosty morning, especially a hoar frost - amazing. I love the patterns of frost left on cars and the frost on grass and leaves. They are beautiful if you look really closely.

Also, you can’t beat a cold and sunny autumnal day, when the leaves are changing and there’s a myriad of colours to enjoy.

Nikki Oliver, Support Officer - Sussex Kelp Recovery Project

I love fungi spotting and photography…and the smells. Taking everything more slowly and making time for the smaller things.

Lydia Baxter, Wilder Ouse Project Officer

The birds that still sing, despite the weather changes as if they’re refusing to accept the grey months ahead. I always like to think that I can adopt the same attitude.

Barry Wildish, Gatwick Greenspace Project Officer

I love seeing people out enjoying the wetter months and all they have to offer. It’s so easy to want to stay cosy when its wet or cold outside. 

Huw Morgan, Wilder Communities Manager

It’s always a treat to see a charm of colourful Goldfinches on a gloomy, grey day.

Gemma Pratt, Giving Officer

Hearing Tawny Owls in the distance. The look and sound of autumn leaves. Walks on a bright sunny cold day, maybe through a Beech forest

Star and moon-gazing with my binoculars on clear nights and looking for shooting stars during meteor showers.

Jack Thompson, Wilder Communities Officer

What always cheers me up in the winter months is the anticipation of our winter visitors. Geese and waders create a cacophony of sound through the winter. I have a special affinity towards Dark-Bellied Brent Geese that arrive on our coastline October to March.

Maggie O'Neill, Customer Support Officer

The smells of autumn or winter mornings – whether they be frosty, earthy or whatever. And shoots of plants pouching their way through the frozen or wet soil

Katie Parker, Wilder Learning Officer 

There is always a big sense of achievement when you come back from a soggy, squelchy, welly walk in the woods! I love the sound of raindrops on my hood and looking at the autumn tree colour, knowing that a warming hot chocolate is the prize when you get home. Even if you just brave 15 minutes in the rain, fresh air always makes you feel good.

I also love filling up my bird feeders and spend ages watching out the window to see the birds come to feed, there is always something going on.

Kerry Williams, Communications Officer 

Getting out in it anyway! It can be tricky to find the motivation when it’s grim outside, but I always feel better for a stomp, even if it’s soggy and cold. That and Robin song

Mike Murphy, Wilder Learning Officer

When the gloom lifts and a little bit of sunshine warms the Ivy flowers for the last solitary bees, the gentle buzz warms my heart.

Tamara Jewell, Gatwick Greenspace Partnership Manager

Seeing the berries on a Spindle tree cheers me up. Introduced to me as Spindlebums, because they look like pert little bottoms.

Caroline Pearce, Director of Fundraising & Communications

I love cobwebs at dawn either highlighted with frost or where they have caught droplets from autumnal mists showcasing their beautiful intricacy.

Heather Salisbury, Membership Officer

The Tawny Owls' skill at waking me up in the middle of the night most nights – very autumnal and lovely – never annoying and always magical. I love the smell of the woods in the rain and that feeling of hibernation happening. Muddy walks with the dogs and fewer people out and about on walks. Woolly jumpers and raincoats and wellies. Fungi and walking on all the old leaves – nature is so beautiful whatever the season.

Do share any of your favourite autumn and winter things with us in the comments