On a big spring tide at Shellness in North Kent (5.71m on October 19th), the saltmarsh gets one of its few inundations and the curlews that roost at the top end of the saltmarsh eventually get moved on by the slowly rising waters. Grey plovers seek refuge on the groynes and the oystercatchers simply move up the beach on the ness. It will need a rare storm surge, when the tide is pushed even higher by strong winds and lifted by low air pressure, to submerge everything below the sea wall.