Freezing poles and waders (8)
I believe the answer is:
bitterns
'waders' is the definition.
(bittern is a kind of wader)
'freezing poles' is the wordplay.
'freezing' becomes 'bitter' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'poles' becomes 'ns' (North and South poles).
'bitter'+'ns'='BITTERNS'
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bitterns that I've seen before include "Waders" , "Bert isn't involved with heron-like birds" , "Marsh birds" , "Small herons with loud cries" .)