Little Milford

DISTANCE/DURATION: 1.9 miles (3.0km) 1 hour.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Service bus Freystrop 308/309, 359 (Sundays) (780 m on road and path).
CHARACTER: Woodland and shoreline, can be muddy in places.
LOOK OUT FOR: Waders and wildfowl.

There are waders and wildfowl galore on these estuarine mudflats all year round.

The mud flats at Little Milford provide a fertile feeding and breeding ground for a variety of wildfowl and waders.

They are very rich in invertebrate life such as crabs, bi-valves and worms and of course the estuarine water supports a variety of fish and plants for birds to eat.

Cormorant, heron, oystercatcher, mute swan, mallard, shelduck, herring, black-backed and greater blackbacked gulls and Canada geese are resident in the waterway.

Seasonal birds include little and greatcrested grebes, wigeon, teal, pintail, scaup, goldeneye, ringed and grey plovers, lapwing, dunlin, snipe, godwit, curlew, redshank and greenshank in winter.

Common sandpiper and whimbrel pass through in spring, with curlew-sandpiper, ruff and little stint occasionally in late summer.

Also look for kingfisher, grey wagtail and dipper whatever the season.