Outside the seawall, the tide has reached nearly to the top of the saltings and water stretches away almost to the horizon, where the distant trees and buildings on the far bank of the estuary form a low, ragged silhouette against the sky. Nearby, a few gulls drift, scavenging along the shoreline. Further out, you can see the purposeful movements of single Cormorants or small parties of Shelducks and Mallard fighting between feeding areas and roosts.