Oyster-catchers are frequent visitors. | Birds of a feather
The mudbanks of the Medway estuary - much of which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) - and the tidal watercourse of the Swale are the winter home of many visiting birds, and mating grounds for native species, too. Dunlin, curlew, knot, oystercatchers, bar-tailed godwits, plovers and Brent geese winter there, while the breeders include herons, redshank, gadwell, pochard, mallard, teal and wigeon.
A detour north to the Hoo Peninsula will take you to Halstow Marches, home to Britain's largest heronry, but there are a number of nature reserves in the immediate area. The Riverside Country Park at Gillingham includes mudflats, salt marsh, reed-beds, grassland and scrub, with an estimated 1300 different types of bird, animal and plant. There is a visitor centre and cafe. Further east, on either side of Faversham Creek, are the Oare Marshes and Nagden Marshes nature reserves. Oare has a visitor centre in the old Watch House customs post (but there are no lavatories!).
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