Rainham Marshes

Afternoon all... Some access info for the up and coming windy weekend...

It looks at the moment that we might get away with keeping the circular trail open tomorrow (via the outer loop) so with the boardwalk work still underway it means that an anti-clockwise route is available with the exit through the turnstile and back along the river wall.

However, there is a lot of water on site and the paths are very wet in several…

Afternoon all... Some access info for the up and coming windy weekend...

It looks at the moment that we might get away with keeping the circular trail open tomorrow (via the outer loop) so with the boardwalk work still underway it means that an anti-clockwise route is available with the exit through the turnstile and back along the river wall.

However, there is a lot of water on site and the paths are very wet in several…

After the storm over the weekend there has been some impact on the reserve. 

Currently there is only access to the Purfleet Hide. They will be no access to any other part of the inner circular trail although the river wall will still be available for those who want to blow away the cobwebs.

The visitor centre, cafe and shop remain open regardless.

Our teams have headed out to try to fix the storm's affect - we hope to…

Weekend access update: 15-16 February

Due to the continuing stormy conditions and increasing wind from imminent Dennis I can now confirm that there will only be access to the Purfleet Hide this weekend. They will be no access to any other part of the inner circular trail although the river wall will still be available for those who want to blow away the cobwebs.

I have also cancelled the Kids Birdwatching Club for Saturday…

The Last Week on the Ranch…

Wet, wild, windy, noisy, ear rattling, building shaking…  just some of the words to describe many of the days since last Sunday morning when Ciara hit.

Birdwise it may have appeared somewhat quiet with most species staying as low to the ground as possible in the gale force weather.  The Marsh Harriers and gulls appeared to enjoy the conditions and brave searching amongst the…

We have a brand new mobility scooter that is available to borrow from the visitor centre. 

You can borrow the mobility scooter to aid you exploring the reserve. 

There is one scooter at Rainham Marshes, so if you would like to use it feel free to give us a call on 01708 899851 to book.

We have this fabulous brand new scooter due to the generosity of a regular visitor/ volunteer who wanted to give back to the reserve to…

afternoon all...

Just a quick reminder that the reserve opening times revert to 9.30am to 5pm as of Saturday 1st February!

Just a quick heads up that the Purfleet Hide will be closed until 1pm.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

The trail is still only open in an anti-clockwise direction with an exit onto the river wall to complete the circuit.  The team are making great inroads into replacing the boardwalk near the Purfleet Hide so hopefully a full inside loop in not too far away once again

and a few sightings from yesterday...

RSPB Rainham…

Evening all - just a quick update...

Friday 24th January 2020

• RSPB Rainham Marshes:- 2 Firecrest, 19 Pintail, Water Rail, 8 Avocet, 8 Curlew, 7 Black-tailed Godwit, 6 Snipe, 2 Little Egret, 3 Marsh Harrier, Barn Owl, Kestrel, Cetti's Warbler, 9 Long-tailed Tit, 11m Song Thrush, 2 Redwing, Meadow Pipit, Water Pipit, Rock Pipit, 8 Reed Buntin, 1cy Caspian Gul, Kingfisher

male Firecrest - Bill Crooks

AND....

a Stoat…

Binoculars at the ready, feeding stations steady - it's BGBW 2020!

Big Garden Birdwatch, the world's largest garden wildlife survey is this weekend! Help us celebrate 41 years by taking part for an hour across Saturday 25, Sunday 26 and Monday 27 January.

How will you #BigGardenBirdWatch?

To count the wildlife that's counting on you, simply choose one hour anytime between 25 - 27 January and count the birds …

This week on the ranch:

The extra rain has topped up the flashes and there are plenty of duck on the marsh although the WeBS count at the weekend suggested that number (bar Pintail) are a little low due to the mild conditions.

Lapwing - Steve Knox

January WeBS Count… 

An update on the boardwalk works... all is going well and the crew have moved beyond the entrance to the Purfleet Hide which means that there is access once again to watch the ducks and so forth... Tony Houston saw this Egyptian Goose from there whilst opening up this morning.

A full circuit is still only possible in an anti-clockwise direction with an exit through the turnstile gate and a return along the river wall…

Sorry for the brevity but been a busy day (and evening!). 

A grey but productive day for those willing to be out in the gloom but the reserve looks brilliant at the moment.

Wednesday 8th January 2020

RSPB Rainham Marshes: 7 Mute Swan, [Bar-headed Goose], 25 Shelduck, 135 Shoveler, 50 Gadwall, 40 Pintail, 54 Pochard, 8 Tufted Duck, 5 Water Rail, 1200 Lapwing, 7 Curlew, 185 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Ruff, 300 Dunlin,2x 2cy…

We are going to be doing work on the boardwalk at the Purfleet hide over the next few weeks, to replace the wooden surface with new planking.

This work will start on Monday 6 January, and is likely to last 6 weeks.

Access to the Purfleet hide will not be possible for a while – but we plan to sequence the work in such a way that means we will get it back open as soon as we can. In the meantime views across the Purfleet…

New Year Greetings to our wondrous followers...

Just to let you know our Christmas opening times.

Christmas Eve: closed from 2pm

Christmas Day & Boxing Day: closed all day

New Years Eve: closed from 2pm

New Years Day: open from 7am

All other days are 9.30am to 4.30pm

Oh and there is so much water now that wellies are required to complete a full circuit of the trails!

And thank you to Helen Mathias for making this…

I have high hopes that the Harbour Porpoises seen on Saturday will reappear over the incoming tide again today. It is beautiful out there. Water and wildfowl everywhere and a flat calm shiny river. Porp pics by Graham-Truby Surety

The Harbour Seals were pretty good yesterday too! Pic by Jeff Harrington

And do not forget that we close at 2pm tomorrow (New Years Eve) but will be opening at 7am on New Years Day

If you can spare a few hours to help, we are always grateful for volunteers!

 Picture by Howard Vaughan

Volunteering is a brilliant way to meet new people, be active, learn new things, it's great for your CV, you get to spend time on a lovely reserve too.

The RSPB has more than 12,000 fantastic volunteers and between them, they contribute almost one million hours every year!

You can find out about volunteering for the…

Nicolas is the leader of our Wildlife Explorers Group - a monthly group for 6-12 year olds to discover nature and do loads of fun hands on activities. He wanted to send the following message to you all:

 Rahul Thanki (rspb-images.com) 

Hello everyone,

First of all on behalf of Steven, Steve and myself (the leaders of the Rainham Marshes Wildlife Explorer Group), we hope you have all had a wonderful festive season and we…

Please note: The Environment Agency has put out a flood warning for the River Mardyke from North Stifford to Purfleet.

The car park and entrance drive could be affected.

With what feels like near constant rain (especially of a night time) the marsh is looking particularly wet and lush at the moment and duck numbers have been steadily increasing with perhaps 2000 across the reserve at the moment.  The sounds of whistling Wigeon, plooping Pintail and plipping Teal can be heard even from the visitors centre.

Pintail - HTV

Three Egyptian Geese have been with the Greylags and Canada flock…

This wondrous juvenile female Hen Harrier has been floating around this morning and was found by H is for Hawk author Helen Macdonald on her very first visit.  She was very pleased, as were we when it reappeared right in front of the centre.

This enigmatic and much persecuted species used to roost here in small numbers in the winter up until the late 1980s.

Both these cracking images were taken by Andy Tweed before…

We are looking for a Catering Manager to join our team! 

Here's some details:

 Andrew Gouldstone

Catering Manager

We are looking for an enthusiastic, confident and highly organised individual to take on the role of Catering Manager at our Rainham Marshes nature reserve.

You will be responsible for delivering the café's menu offer and driving income to support our conservation work. You will work with an assistant…

Site Manager, Andrew Gouldstone, has written the following blog all about the work on Rainham West. Take it away Andrew:

Some of you may remember a piece that I wrote for the blog last winter, describing an encounter with a bearded tit (of the avian variety) on the northern boardwalk. That encounter happened whilst I’d been thinking through the various permissions that we needed, so that we could undertake new habitat…