with internationally important numbers of grey plovers, knots, redshanks and dunlin, but most significantly for the numbers of Black Tailed Godwit, within the estuary, Copperas bay offers the spectacle of masses of wading birds and wildfowl during the winter months (Sep-Mar). Within the reserve, Stour Wood has a spectacular show of wood anemones in Mar/Apr. The woods are also a good place to hear nightingales.