Stour Estuary RSPB reserve

The Stour Estuary is a nature reserve in Essex, east of Colchester. It sits where the River Stour meets the North Sea. The reserve combines two very different landscapes. One is the wide intertidal mudflats bordered by saltmarsh and reeds. The other is 130 acres of deciduous woodland, mainly oak and coppiced sweet chestnut. The estuary is a key site for birds throughout the year. It supports breeding, roosting and wintering populations of many species. Among them are woodpeckers, nightingales and warblers such as blackcap and common whitethroat. Waterfowl include European wigeon, shelduck, pintail and teal. Winter brings dark-bellied brent geese and waders like grey plover, redshank and black-tailed godwit. Mammals live in the woods and along the edges. Visitors may spot red fox, badger, grey squirrel and the rare hazel dormouse. Butterflies and moths add colour in summer. The woodland floor lights up in spring with wood anemones. The estuary also appears in Arthur Ransome’s 1939 novel Secret Water as the setting for children’s adventures.