Halloween antics aside it has been a good couple of days on the reserve with the Short-eared Owls obviously stealing the limelight and up to eight have been seen quartering the riverwall,enclosed bay and main areas of Aveley Marsh (especially around the cattle corral). They are fairly tolerant of people (they have to be on the wall) and witha bit of patience excellent views have been had by most people and beaming faces…

Hi everyone,

Just a quick heads up...

Starting next week we are getting one of our lovely contractors from Pearls will be on site for a couple of weeks so there maybe some disturbance.

They will be helping us re-profile some of the scrapes as well as excavating a couple of small areas to provide opportunities for breeding waders, and to tackle areas of flowering rush.

Here's Ian doing some of the re-profiling…

As promised here are some of Tony O'Brien's wonderful shots of the Kestrel that allowed him to approach closely yesterday as she hunted along the river wall completely unconcerned by his presence.

I will let the pictures speak for themselves...

29-10-15

It started with rain of near Biblical proportions with flooded roads and whooshing wipers and ended with a glorious sunset over a shimmering Thames with ghostly Short-eared Owls out hunting the meadows...

And so today was another superb day out on the reserve with at least three people proclaiming it as their best visit ever. After that rain the wind dropped, the sun pushed through and the temperature rose. Ravens, Marsh…

Hi everyone,

The other day we let you know about some path works that are taking place on the reserve (check here for all the details)...

We are replacing some of the old boardwalk near the turnstile, with new (lovely recycled plastic boards that are non-slip and long lasting).

The section of path is here:

We will be closing it off for a few weeks while we complete the repairs, we will be creating a temporary…

This morning started off with a pleasant enough stroll around the trails in the hope of finding something to go with my flyover Tree Sparrow yesterday. It was warm enough to be wearing my sandals and it was still and dry. Cetti’s were as explosive as ever and Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs were particularly vociferous in the Cordite where a few Redwings and Blackbirds darted for cover at my approach. Common Darters…

Drone flying over the reserve.

We have had several incidents involving Drone flying this year but a near air miss was reported with a plane over Rainham just a few weeks ago so time for some facts... It may be a bit wordy but we need to be clear about where we, the RSPB, stand on their use...

The use of drones is a new and innovative way of getting aerial footage over land, and it is understandable that it is of interest…

Hi everyone,

I hope that you are well.

I just wanted to let you know that there will be some paths works going on over the next few weeks.

We are replacing some of the old boardwalk near the turnstile, with new (lovely recycled plastic boards that are non-slip and long lasting).

The section of path is here:

  It will be closed from Tuesday 27 October.

We will be closing it off for a few weeks while we complete…

TuiNa Massage here today!

TuiNa massage is a fully clothed treatment where the muscles and tendons within your body are massaged.

The techniques help stimulate and relax key points on the surface of your body. Today David James will be here on the last Sunday of each the month offering pre-booked 15-60 minute sessions and FREE five minute taster sessions!

So after you go for your walk (or after you borrow a bicycle…

I am happy to announce that the woodland loop is now fully open!

We were removing sections of the boardwalk that were not looking so good, and we are creating and extending the gravel path...

After getting our lovely digger man into sort out the path -

We had a whopping 40 tonnes of gravel delivered...

Then it was all hands to the wheelbarrows and shovels transporting and laying the hard surface...

The RSPB Rainham Marshes yearlong bird race is still ticking along nicely and the 32 teams have been doing their best to increase their tallies.

It has been a difficult year at times with a very quiet autumn and a frustratingly uneventful time on the Thames.

To date 178 species have been seen on the reserve but only the number one team is over the 150 mark.

The top five teams at the moment are:

1. Guy & Dolls…

And now for something completely different.... After the great success of David James and his TuiNa Massage spot at the Autumn Fair I am pleased to say that he is set to become a monthly feature and in the future will tie in with the Active in Nature Project run on site by Jen Blake so watch this space... This coming Sunday (25th) is his first day so pop in for a taster or give him a ring and book a session - all details…

Yesterday my body decided that it was about time I started brewing up a sore throat and stinky cold and by this morning I will admit to feeling less than tip top but drugged and caffeined up I made it in. I took myself for a walk along the river wall before opening up to try to clear my head a little and hope for a flyover Tree Sparrow or Woodlark or anything that may add some points to my faltering Patch Work Challenge…

Despite the fact that most of our Bearded Tit families have moved off site now (on a couple of days small flocks were seen erupting from the reeds and pinging into the blue) we still seem to have a few birds on the Northern Trail and Dragonfly Pool areas and over the last couple of weeks they have provided many people with great and sometimes unusual photo opportunities as they bounce around the site...

Enjoy! :O)

After nearly two weeks of settled weather and an easterly air flow we have move back once again into the dreary wet westerlies that seem to predominate nowadays. It barely felt like it has got light yesterday with low cloud and constant drizzle but there were still birds to be seen from the warmth of the café with a nice Green Woodpecker on the lawn along with probing Starlings and a brief Redwing while the feeders…

Our Wasp Spiders are normally long over by late September so to still have a couple of females guarding their precious egg sack cocoons on the 20th October is extraordinary. Needless to say it has been the diligent efforts of Clive 'Waspy' Watts that we still know where these late ones are.  It has certainly been the best year on record here for the species

Wasp Spider- Clive Watts

On top of this there are…

As we head into autumn and the colder months there is a fair chance that you might get lucky and discover a cute little Harvest Mouse clambering around in the phragmites. You will have to keep your eyes peeled as they are only about the size of a 50 pence piece!

Bob Bradley was in the right place the other day and took these cracking shots...  very jealous...

21-10-15

I found this absolutely tiny recently deceased Pygmy Shrew on the trail today... poor little lass had seemingly just run out of steam and passed away. We often find Common Shrews and even the odd Water Shrew on the path but I have not seen a Pygmy here for years. Her body was just over 4cm long and her fur was velvet soft with whiskers a 5th of the length of that. And to think that this little bundle of fur is not a rodent…

It was another glorious still morning with a huge moon and the low lying mist and imminent sunrise hinted of blue skies to come. I headed out at 7.30 along the river wall, partly because I could basically see nowt out on the marsh as the mist was slopping around like a sea of dry ice.

Goldcrests were calling from the mouth of the Mardyke and Grey Wagtail and Kingfisher both made their invisible presence known…