Rainham Marshes

Will the special offers never end?! 

30% off Suet Bumper Boxes (Balls, Nibbles and Sprinkles) until the 1st April 2019...

Jennifer and the lovely Alice paid us a visit earlier this week. Alice has been visiting since she was a bump and thoroughly enjoys the sensory delights that are available both inside and outside the centre. She’s a firm favourite with us and the visitors.

Jennifer and Alice...

In a wonderfully serendipitous way her mum told me that Thursday 21 March is World Down Syndrome Day.  She handed me a book of amazing bird…

Dawn Chorus

Sunday 5 and 12 May, 4-7 am

There is nothing like hearing birds in full song at this time of the morning! A guided walk with experts will help you to identify what is out there at this time of the year followed by a much needed bacon or sausage bap and a hot drink in the café (which is included in cost). Meet us at the visitor centre just before 4am!

Blackcap -Bill Moss

Cetti's Warbler - Bill C…

And no, we have not had a Wheatear or a LIttle Ringed Plover but we did have two very active, fresh looking Chiffchaffs in full song in the Cordite today. 

And whereas the former two species may elicit an oooh of trans-Saharan epic journeys; there is something simple about the song of a little olive and buff warbler with a hint of saffron giving it his all from an as yet in leave tree.

A lovely Chiffie in the budding…

The Sweet Violets are adding a splash of colour low to the ground around the visitors centre car park and gardens at the moment and are providing a valuable nectar source for some of the early bees.

Smelling the actual scent of these is quite a tricky thing as not only do you have to lay on your belly to get close enough but amazingly they release a chemical called Ionone that temporarily desensitises our sense of smell…

Hi everyone - just to let you know that due to the weather conditions over the next couple of days our school groups may be spending some time in the hides.

Thank you for your understanding!

Sorry for the lack of recent sightings but the weather has precluded much in the way of movement. 

Our wintering Lapwings are slowly reducing in numbers and our own displaying breeders are well and truly back on territory!

Full on inverted tumbling - Tony O'Brien

And so some sparse sightings from the last few days...

Saturday 9th to Monday 11th March 2019

RSPB Rainham Marshes: Sand Martin, juv Glaucous Gull, 120…

It feels like it has been a very long winter; not especially cold, but dank, grey and windy. As such, getting the time to do some of the winter gardening jobs has been quite tricky and so we have been trying to squeeze as much into the last few weeks as possible!

The laid hedges need a little bit of attention with the sides trimmed back to encourage new growth upwards rather than outwards and that growth from last year…

Treat your Mum this Mother's day! Enjoy high tea from 1-4pm! Sandwiches, scones, cakes and a cup of tea, or filter coffee, for an afternoon treat. It's only £6 per person (children £3).

scrummy... image by Tony O'Brien

Available from 1-4 pm, pre-booking is advised to avoid disappointment. Our beautiful scarves would make a great gift for Mum – or there are lots of other options in our shop! Mum…

I know that sometimes you may think us over cautious about closing the woodland trail when it gets windy.
Yesterday we did so quite some time before it got dangerous out there...

Glad we did...
The outer loop is open but not the inner.  Today there will be lots of sawing!

You will be pleased to know that Rocky the Robin survived to ponce mealworms another day...

It has been unseasonably warm of late with temperatures reaching twenty Celsius for the last two days.   The local wildlife has reacted in different ways... our own Lapwings are beginning to return and the sunshine has prompted them into bouts of tumbling display and this is perfectly normal for the time of year and does not necessitate and early nesting season. Similarly our Skylarks have been singing for several weeks…

From today through to the 19th March we have a special 10% off offer on all RSPB branded binoculars and telescopes.  We have the full range in stock so why not come along and try before you buy?

Our colleagues in reserves ecology have given us the opportunity to get some free drone flights undertaken across the site to help undertake some ecological surveys.

Flights will take place across Aveley and Wennington Marshes tomorrow and will be used to map habitat condition – primarily the extent of standing water. This date has been selected to avoid day-time high tides, so disturbance should be reduced.

This…

Bird Number 1:During the winter we have a very good wintering flock of Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits at RSPB Rainham Marshes with upwards of 500 birds utilising the Thames between Grays and Barking Bay with us sandwiched in between.

Big flock - Les Harrison

They can often be seen on the foreshore and noisy chattering groups and will sometimes come onto the marsh at high tide to feed or head to the Concrete Barges to…

And so last weeks seed offer may have ended but the powers that be have generously extended the offer until the 26th February but with 20% off all sacks so if you are still in the need for some seed then please pop on down!

Please click on the image to make it bigger!

oh and if you need some birds to entice you down to stock up then both Glaucous Gulls are still floating around with a biscuity juvenile and this huge…

You have two more days of the massive 30% off 12.75kg bags of seed! This is the biggest offer we've had on the seed - and stocks are running low.  Get in quick though as the offer only lasts through to the 19th! Have a look at the picture to see...

Two new Glaucous Gulls were seen today at Coldharbour Point on the rocks and loafing offshore before heading back to the landfill..

Keep your eyes open!

The juvenile - Andy Tweed

The huge white 2nd winter - Dante Shepherd

The birds in your garden will love you more than ever if you pop in from tomorrow to stock up on seed with our 30% off sacks offer...

Get in quick though as the offer only lasts through to the 19th!

Click to enlarge the picture to see all the details...

Our fantastic wardening team have done a great job maintaining a section of the woodland boardwalk!

The works have now finished and the paths are open as normal now. 

The staff and volunteers have been working on the boardwalk every day, come rain or shine or even snow. There were sections where the team were working knee deep in water for days. Some of the volunteers were coming in for three to four days each week!

…

Just a quick update from today...

Monday 11th February 2019

• RSPB Rainham Marshes: m Goldeneye, 3w Caspian Gull, 27 Avocet, 36 Black-tailed Godwits, Water Pipit, Grey Wagtail, 4 Stonechat, Little Egret, 3 Marsh Harrier, 20 Golden Plover, m Blackcap, m Peregrine

drake Goldeneye - he spent most of the day on the Thames before dropping infront of the Purfleet Hide for a short while (too shallow) and then heading…

Saturday the 2^nd of February, late afternoon, quite cold, the light is starting to fail, and I’m on the northern boardwalk, part way round locking all the hides.

I always find time out on the reserve is a time to reflect on how the reserve and its habitats have developed, and also to think about our future plans for helping these habitats thrive even more. I start thinking about current proposals that we are developing…

It has been a real mixed bag with the weather since last Friday evening when two inches of snow suddenly covered the ground during the course of David Lindo’s talk but it was gone by the next morning.

10.30pm Friday night...

David getting into character...

Fox, Magpie, Blackbird

Torrential rain followed on Monday morning during rush hour and the levels across the marsh have visibly risen. This has been followed…

Just a quick heads up to let you know that we have a couple of new lines in our shop at the moment with our as friendly as possible Victorian Flora Natural Skincare range...

We also now have the new Puffin bags, purses, scarves, mugs and coasters in - it all feels quite summery!

oh and the Christmas sale is still on with cards and calendars at bargainous prices!

Our small wintering flock of Avocets has slowly increased over the last few weeks to a record 71 on Tuesday.  Down the Thames at East Tilbury there are regularly over 2000 birds in the winter so it is nice that we are getting a few more up this way now.

To see them best you need to aim for mid tide (either rising or falling) as on the low tide they are often quite a way off or even head to just under the QEII Bridge to…