 Migratory birds like redshank and sandpipers also use the Dole as a resting and feeding place on their route north for the summer.In summer and winter, water is allowed in, to prevent the mud from drying up; in spring and autumn, water is released, to expose the mud.As well as the wading birds, mallards, coots, moorhens and lapwings nest in the reeds in the marshland surrounding the mud flats.