Local Wildlife Site

Wildlife

The Royal Docks are huge areas of open water of considerable value for birds. Several pairs of common terns nest on rafts on Pontoon Dock, the southern extension of the Royal Victoria Dock, while other breeding species include mute swan, great crested grebe and tufted duck. Numbers of waterfowl increase in winter, especially in very hard weather when the brackish water of the docks makes them among the last water bodies to freeze. Peregrine falcons have nested on a nearby building, and regularly hunt over the docks.