Rainham Marshes

Spotted Flycatcher seen in the Woodlands area near the Cordite. This lovely shot by Sean Mulqueen was taken on Saturday 14th September 

Wall Brown Butterfly spotted on the Reserve from Shooting Butts Hide and on the fence just near the numbers on Friday 13th September and over the weekend. Photo credit to Andy Reid. 

Honey Buzzard, Osprey and Merlin have all been spotted over the reserve in the last two days...Thanks to Russ Sherriff for the great captures of the Honey Buzzard and the Osprey.

Here are some of our beautiful dragonflies captured by Andy Reid at the reserve . The Lesser Emperors were captured in June , Southern Migrant Hawker (Blue eyed), the Ruddy Darter and the Migrant Hawker all captured in August.  

Our male Kingfisher continues to put on quite a show at the Marshland Discovery Zone Hide - Thanks  to John Humble for this stunning photograph.

Great White Egret showing well at the Purfleet Hide on Monday 5th August . Photo Credit to John Humble

Norfolk Hawker spotted on Thursday 18th July alongside a Scarce Chaser ( no photo at this stage)  both rare for our Reserve.

Brown Hairstreak rare to this region seen in the car park w/e of the 13/14th July

Thank -you to John Humble for the pictures of the Bearded Reedling and the Reed Warbler 

Thanks to John Humble for the photos of our lovely Kingfisher and the Woodchat Shrike 

Just a friendly reminder that starting tomorrow, November 1st, 2023, the Reserve will be closing at 4 pm. Please make a note of this change in schedule. Thank you.

Looking for unique activities this October half-term? Join us at RSPB Rainham Marshes for fun and educational experiences. Book tickets at https://events.rspb.org.uk/rainhammarshes

Our winter hours will change from November 1st.

Our Highlights so far this month has been Hoopoe, 12 Glossy Ibis, A pair of Black-winged Stilts and Black tern

On the 7th of June the visitor centre and reserve will be closed due to staff training we will resume our normal working hours 9.30-5pm on the 8th of June. We thank you for your paitence and continued support. RSPB Rainham Marshes Team 

Volunteering Opportunities at Rainham Marshes

          We have volunteering opportunities at Rainham Marshes that suit everyone.

Our micro volunteering allows you to volunteer for a couple of hours a week, this would include opening and closing our hides. It would give you the opportunity to go round the reserve and open the hides for our visitors before they arrive or go round in the eventing to close the hides.

We also have…

We are excited to host our first Summer fair since pre-covid. 

We have pitches for hire, if you are interested in hiring a pitch please contact kirsty.scott@rspb.org.uk 

Come and explore Rainham Marshes with one of our guides, as we take you on a wonderful wildlife walk around the marshes. Every season sees a different cast of wildlife awaits you!

Rainham Marshes is an important area for wildlife, and a great place for visitors all year round - you can expect to see breeding wading birds and a variety of invertebrates in spring and summer. Also look out for lapwings, redshanks, wheatears…

We have some fun activities for all the family at Rainham Marshes during the half term

to book please visit 

Rainham Marshes (rspb.org.uk)

We apologise for the ongoing closure of the northern boardwalk. The decision to close was made in order to keep visitors safe, as the boardwalk has reached the end of its lifespan. A new Project Manager has now joined the team at Rainham and we are considering several options to reopening the site fully. We understand that the closure may cause frustration and we apologise that we cannot yet give a date for reopening…