WAY MARKERS

1 Scan the channel for wildfowl such as Shelduck, Brent Goose, Wigeon, Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebe, plus the chance of Redthroated Diver, Common Scoter and Eider. Sky Lark, Meadow Pipit and Linnet feed along the track with Rock Pipit and Turnstone on the foreshore and Stonechat in scrub. A good spot for a hunting Merlin or Peregrine.

2 At low tide, check the mud for waders, typically Oystercatcher, Avocet, Redshank, Ringed and Grey Plovers, Black and Bar-tailed Godwits, Knot, Dunlin and Sanderling. Kestrel, Short-eared and Barn Owls, Marsh and Hen Harriers are regularly seen hunting just inland. The wet fields attract Whitefronted Geese, Wigeon, Teal, Snipe, Little Egret, Grey Heron,

Curlew, Lapwing and Golden Plover, while small reedbeds harbour Water Rail, Bearded Tit and Cetti’s Warbler. A good viewpoint across to Sheppey.

4 Check the hedgerows for tit and finch flocks including Bullfinch, Long-tailed Tit, Yellowhammer and Linnet. Paddocks should yield winter thrushes, Pied Wagtail, Green Woodpecker and Stock Dove.

3 Fieldfare and Redwing flocks are often present in the orchards along with Mistle Thrush, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Little Owl and common passerines. Check hedgerows and farmland for corvids, gulls, Stock Dove, partridges, tits, finches buntings, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk. Scan nearby pits for wildfowl and grebes.