Mouse over links for pictures; click for detail page.
Copperas Bay has large areas of mudflats fringed by saltmarsh and reedbed, lying immediately west of the port facilities of Parkeston. It is reached by crossing the bridge over the railway and walking down the Essex Way to the public hide. This hide is best for birdwatching at low and half tide when many waders come to feed on the mudflats.
From there a path runs along in a narrow strip of woodland between railway and estuary to two hides (reserved for RSPB members), which give good views of birds at their high-tide roost. It is unusual in Essex for a wood to run right down to the waterside as it does here and this makes it an enjoyable walk in its own right. From the path there are occasional views through the screen of trees over Copperas Bay, which is used by a variety of birds in autumn and winter including brent geese, many ducks and a large flock of black-tailed godwits.
The Stour estuary is the second most important UK wintering site for this bird after the Wash, with more than 2,000 present most winters. They are part of the population that breeds in Iceland.
Visiting
North of the B1352 from Ramsey to Manningtree, between the villages of Wrabness and Ramsey. Turn off the A120 Colchester-Harwich road on to the B1352. The main entrance to Stour Wood, with car park, is signposted from the road; Copperas Wood is 300 yards down a public footpath (the route of the Essex Way) beside a large white flat-roofed house, with parking for one or two cars on the verge. Copperas Bay and its bird hides can be reached via either.
Stour Wood is about 800m walk from Wrabness rail station via a public footpath. A bus service from Colchester to Harwich via Wrabness runs along the B1352 past the entrances to Stour and Copperas Woods.
Accessible at all times.
May and June, when wild flowers are everywhere and migrant birds such as the nightingale are in full voice; autumn and winter for the hardy and the birdwatcher, for good views of the birds in Copperas Bay.
.jpg)