Editing Stour Estuary RSPB reserve

{{Short description|RSPB nature reserve in Essex, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{refimprove|date=November 2009}}
The '''Stour Estuary''' is a [[nature reserve]] in [[Essex]], [[England]], east of [[Colchester, England|Colchester]] on the [[estuary]] of the [[River Stour, Suffolk|River Stour]], managed by the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]] (RSPB).

The reserve is unusual in that it consists of two divergent [[habitat (ecology)|habitat]] types: intertidal mudflats (fringed by saltmarsh and estuarine reeds), and 130 acres (0.5&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) of deciduous [[woodland]], mainly [[oak]] and [[coppice]]d [[sweet chestnut]].

The estuary is important as a breeding, roosting and wintering site for many [[waterfowl]] and other birds, including [[woodpecker]]s, [[nightingale]], [[blackcap]], [[common whitethroat]], [[sedge warbler]], [[Eurasian reed warbler|reed warbler]], [[European wigeon]], [[common shelduck]], [[northern pintail]], [[common teal]], [[dark-bellied brant goose]], [[grey plover]], [[common redshank]], [[Eurasian curlew]], [[dunlin]] and [[black-tailed godwit]].

Mammals to be seen include [[red fox]] (''Vulpes vulpes''), [[Eurasian badger|badger]] (''Meles meles''), [[eastern gray squirrel|grey squirrel]] (''Sciurus carolinensis'') and [[hazel dormouse]] (''Muscardinus avellanarius'').

Butterflies and rare moths include [[Limenitis camilla|white admiral]] (''Limenitis camilla''), [[chocolate-tip moth]] (''Clostera curtula'') and [[Peach blossom|peach blossom moth]] (''Thyatira batis'').

In the Spring, the woodland floor is covered with wood anemones creating a spectacular display.

The Stour Estuary is the focus of [[Arthur Ransome]]'s 1939 children's novel, ''[[Secret Water]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hunter |first1=John Michael |title=The Essex landscape: a study of its form and history |date=1999 |publisher=Essex Record Office Publications |location=Chelmsford |isbn=1898529159 |page=23}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kellaway |first1=Kate |title=How we sailed into the pages of storybook Britain |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2008/may/11/familyholidays.sailingholidays |access-date=3 November 2024 |work=The Observer |date=11 May 2008}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stour Estuary}}
[[Category:Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserves in England]]
[[Category:Nature reserves in Essex]]
[[Category:Coastal environment of Essex]]


{{Essex-geo-stub}}