When duck approach Little Oakley and District Wildfowlers Association’s (LODWA) 50 acres of meadowland and lagoons, they come from all directions. It’s late October and as daylight slips away, I can hear wigeon calling overhead; a wedge of mallard is silhouetted against the glow of Harwich Harbour to my front, looking likely to pitch into the shallow waters; and somewhere to my right a single teal has landed unseen and is piping a thin whistle. Canadas are calling from the open water in the east, and behind me I can hear more teal inbound.
Sitting alone in a potato box wouldn’t be most people’s preferred location on a Saturday evening. I associate them with a faint odour of rotted spuds. But for the 100 members of LODWA, it’s a privilege that is much
