Editing Breydon Water (section)

==Features==
At low tide there are vast areas of mudflats and saltings, all teeming with birds. Since the mid-80s, Breydon Water has been a [[nature reserve]] in the care of the RSPB. It has been a popular shooting area for centuries, and the shooting continues, but on a very much reduced scale.

In the winter, large numbers of wading birds and wildfowl use it to overwinter, including 12,000 [[Eurasian golden plover|golden plover]]s, 12,000 [[European wigeon|wigeon]]s, 32,000 [[northern lapwing|lapwing]]s and tens of thousands of [[Bewick's swan]]s. Other species that have been noted there include [[dunlin]], [[sanderling]], [[Eurasian whimbrel]], several (escaped) [[flamingo]]s, [[pied avocet]]s and on one occasion a [[glossy ibis]].

There is a bird observation hide at the east end of Breydon Water, on the north shore, looking out towards a breeding platform used mainly by [[common tern]]s. Other breeding species include [[common shelduck]]s, [[northern shoveler]]s, [[Eurasian oystercatcher]]s and [[western yellow wagtail|yellow wagtail]]s.

Naturalist Arthur Henry Patterson (1857–1935), who published under the pseudonym "John Knowlittle", extensively documented the wildlife of Breydon and the disappearing lifestyles of the boatmen, wildfowlers and fishermen who made a living from the estuary.<ref name=Patterson>Extracts from his numerous works are available in 'Scribblings of a Yarmouth Naturalist' by Beryl Tooley, his great-granddaughter ({{ISBN|0-9549048-0-X}}  published 2004).</ref>

Short sections of the [[Wherryman's Way]] and [[Weavers' Way]] long-distance paths follow the northern bank of the estuary from Yarmouth to [[Berney Arms]], a distance of about 5 miles.  Breydon Water is the site of events in [[Arthur Ransome]]'s popular [[Swallows and Amazons series|''Swallows and Amazons'' series]] book, ''[[Coot Club]]''.