A low-profile paradise of dykes and reed beds, alive in summer with the harsh chatter of reed and sedge warblers, and heady with the mingling of marshy smells; mud, reeds and water mint. The Washlands of East Anglia are storage areas for flood water. Huge numbers of waterfowl are attracted here in winter and the fenlands also support great numbers of breeding ducks and waders. On a cold winter's day, it is good to be in the warm observation hide, looking over the vast wetlands and listening to the bugling calls of the Whooper and Bewick Swans, gathering to be fed.