I am writing this as someone with an interest in bird watching but not a great deal of knowledge or expertise. I was surprised to see so many other bird watchers there when we arrived. It was a bit of a squeeze to get a good view but we took up our places and waited.

Between ourselves and the sea we could spot some egret, greylags, swans, mallard, coot, snipe, red shank, heron and greater black-backed gulls. A good number of chaffinch were seen and a merlin perched on a branch, to give us a wonderful view of it. Other watchers pointed out buzzards, harriers, short eared owls, peregrine falcon and much more. All the time the bird numbers were increasing.

In a matter of about 10 minutes the tide rushed in and the feeding frenzy started. Bird numbers seemed to double and triple. I first noticed a greater black-backed gull take and devour a little water rail. I had only ever seen one water rail before but this day I saw several struggle against the tide, only to be served up as lunch for some much larger bird. I couldn't understand why they stayed in the water instead of flying off. A heron swallowed down a large rat and other birds took little voles and shrews.

It was a sort of carnage but at the same time very exciting to see such a range of birds and so many, in such a short time. Even those who had watched there at high tide many times before said it had been an exceptional day. It really was nature in the wild.