Now is the time of the Hawker with literally dozens of these aerial predatory dragonflies on the wing (at last). Migrant Hawkers are the most numerous and can be seen patrolling the ditches and hunting at height which opens them up to attack from the returning Hobbies, while the bigger Emperors and Browns prefer to hug the ditches and pools and the Southerns seem to have a liking for the Cordite Store...

Migrant Hawker…

Stallholders around the Visitor Centre will have lots of fabulous hand made creations such as cards, jewellery, textiles photography and art along with TuiNa Massage, Jamaican food, local honey, other likeminded local charities and the return of the 'Trouble Trebles & the Baseclefs'. Keep the kids happy while you browse with children’s crafts!

 S

And let’s not forget that we have the cosy cafe with…

Come and join us on a walk around the marshes to search for some of our nocturnal denizens. Doors will open at 6.30 pm for a 7pm start and after a short batty introduction we shall head out to explore and listen with our bat detectors for these much maligned animals.

While you are out we shall be running a couple of moth traps to see if we can catch some of the things that the bats are after!
30 spaces are available…

With water levels dropping on Aveley Pool as we move water through our sluices to keep Purfleet Scrape, it was only a matter of time before the big old pool started to attract waders and yesterday Pat Hart saw both a Little Stint and Wood Sandpiper on here amongst other species.

Max Hellicar and I had to take a rather circuitous route to get there to avoid a swarm of very angry Wasps who had had their nest in advertently…

Morning,

Last week we ran a fabulous event here at the reserve for teenagers - Natural Animation!

The animation was made by a number young animators using natural materials!

They did an amazing job, and the results are great!

We wanted to share their work with you:

community.rspb.org.uk/.../RSPB-Anim-3.mp4

Big thanks to Alistair and Jess for planning and running the event!

Hello and welcome to the first Active in Nature blog post!

We are now coming to the end of our first summer of Active in Nature activities at Rainham Marshes. For those who haven't heard of this scheme, Active in Nature is a partnership project funded by Sport England. We are piloting a series of activities from two RSPB nature reserves: Strumpshaw Fen and Rainham Marshes! The aim of the project is to encourage a healthy…

Yesterday was jam packed with events that kept me busy all day. It started with the Kids Birdwatching Club which typically for August was populated by just Ben R and his Dad (up until a lovely Hungarian lady and her info filled six year old caught us up!). It was quite gloomy and over cast and not especially warm but we did hear the Bearded Tits and see a few warblers and insects in the woodland and it was good to find…

The talk of a heatwave does not quite seem to have conjured one up yet and it was actually quite chilly this morning on my pre-work amble with no lovely jubbly hoverflies like on Tuesday but there was still plenty to see with all the usual warblers foraging in the bushes and a juvenile Song Thrush that posed very nicely for me.

I only found one fly of note and I have to admit to being stumped at the moment. It looks…

A guest blog by Andrew Gouldstone our Site Manager...

Rainham Marshes has had a busy year so far; with a visit from the former Prime Minister David Cameron; a rally to support action against the illegal persecution of hen harriers; investment in our infrastructure including a new 2.5 mile long fence to protect wildlife; and the arrival of some man-made boulders, which magically challenge young and old to conquer the…

Did you know that you can hire bikes at Rainham Marshes?

Our wonderful cycle hire scheme will give you an opportunity to loop the perimeter of the reserve (along the RSPB Riverwall cycle paths) and explore the surrounding landscape, taking in views over the river Thames and down to London from the river wall. Rainham is ideally positioned for a cycle adventure, with easy access to Sustrans route 13 and further afield…

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to remind you of some of the amazing events that we have coming up!

Over the summer we have lots of events for adults and for families.

Drop in to Rainham Marshes this summer holidays, to take part in some fabulous family activities! There's something every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - and family self-guided trails available every day!

Every Tuesday and Thursday have fun pond…

A quick dash to the end of the ramp this afternoon resulted in a new species of dragonfly for me for the reserve after Clive 'Waspy' Watts showed me a tantalising image of a hanging hawker showing restricted blue on the upper abdomen. Thankfully it was still there and posed well after flying a short way to a more camera friendly perch, revealing it to be a lovely Lesser Emperor which is still largely a vagrant…

And so the 6^th August had arrived... Hen Harrier Day 2016 at RSPB Rainham Marshes.

An early start saw the team setting up the final few banners, signs, car park and enormous tin foil Hen Harrier before opening the doors to the public at 8am.

By 9.30am the vibe was amazing and the area in and around the visitors centre was a hubbub of chatter, laughter and some sombre faces as the distressing facts about the plight of…

Hi everyone,

How are you?

I just wanted to let you know a few details for tomorrow's event!

• The reserve (including car park) will open at 8am tomorrow (6 August).
  We're  anticipating a busy day and are urging people to use public transport. Easy access from the C2C train line from London's Fenchurch Street station or Gray's in Essex. Get off at Purfleet train station which is just a 15 minute signposted…

... and a bit of a Brucey Bonus for Saturday as both Chris Packham and Mark Avery will be signing their respective books 'Fingers in the Sparkle Jar' and 'Inglorious'. I suspect that this will happen after the rally. We have a good supply of both books for you to purchase but I would probably recommend popping into the shop before you head out on the rally to secure your copies! As such we have a special offer if you…

Broadcaster Chris Packham joins RSPB and others to call for action at BAWC event

Chris Packham will be among the speakers when RSPB Rainham Marshes nature reserve hosts a Hen Harrier Day on 6 August, organised by Birders Against Wildlife Crime.

BAWC launched Hen Harrier Day in 2014 to raise awareness of the serious persecution suffered by these spectacular birds of prey. Despite full legal protection since the early…

And so begins a tale of a long day in the field – quite literally. Saturday morning started gloomy and overcast as I set about getting things sorted for our first event of the day.

A Redstart calling loudly as I drove onto site just after seven set me up nicely and by nine the Marshland Discovery Zone was open and ready for Insect Day and the British Dragonfly Society were setting up, with Jim, Vicky and Neil organising…

On Saturday 6 August, RSPB Rainham Marshes is hosting an event organised by Birders Against Wildlife Crime to mark Hen Harrier Day 2016, celebrating hen harriers and publicising their plight.

BAWC would like to invite you to join us all for this rally, featuring speeches from Chris Packham, Mark Avery, Charlie Moores from BAWC and RSPB Chief Executive Mike Clarke.

http://birdersagainst.org/

We're losing our…