A Post of Many Parts

It has been a largely gloomy, cold, drizzly week but there have been some good birds to be seen if you wrapped up warm or just stayed in and looked from the window. The Russian White-fronted Geese that were seen on Friday reappeared on Sunday but have not been seen since but we have seen both Brent and Egyptian Geese in with the Greylags and Canadas. With more water on the deck the duck have reappeared in numbers but with no berries left we only have a few Fieldfare and Redwing around. The Thames has been quiet with a Little Gull yesterday being the scant highlight although we still have 20 Avocet knocking around.

And so to other stuff... for those who stay in the centre or need to refuel we are still currently doing toasted sandwiches once again... beats a Panini any day!

The shop also has some good offers on through to the end of Valentines Day...

And now for a little piece from Julie Foreman our Learning Officer about some great work our volunteers have been doing in the Woodland Discovery Zone

'It's a funny ol' place, the WDZ - it can be quite magical in the right light but at other times can feel a bit overpowering. We want the children that visit us to have an amazing, fun experience so that they'll grow up loving nature ...so we've cut back the vegetation to create a lighter, airier and much more welcoming space for visitors and for wildlife too (the resident Robin was supervising the work throughout). The classroom has also had a facelift, courtesy of our lovely volunteers, to make it a more fun and engaging place for visiting school children.'

If you know any teachers or other school staff that you think would love our Marshes as much as we do why not pass on our details (education.rainham@rspb.org) and suggest they bring their pupils?

Oh and just a reminder that the boardwalk down by the Dragonfly has also been completed after a supreme effort by the same team so the trail is again fully open.

And last but not least a request from Louise Moss our Visitor Experience Manager...

Hope to see some of you at the weekend... Kids Birdwatching Club at 10am tomorrow morning and of course don't forget that we have our running club, bike hire and the boulders just waiting for you to join in with too!