East India Dock Basin

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First built in 1806, the East India Docks finally closed in 1967 and this basin is the only surviving remnant. It contains tidal brackish water and has mudflats with a small band of saltmarsh vegetation along its northern edge. This is dominated, unusually, by buttonweed, with sea milkwort and sea arrowgrass.

There are muddy and shingly islands within the basin and two nesting rafts, used every summer by a colony of common terns. In winter it attracts shelduck and flocks of teal and tufted duck. It is also a good place to see black redstart, a rare breeding bird that has adapted to living on industrial sites in large urban centres like London.