Hello, I just wanted to let you know what is going on at Rainham Marshes over the seasonal period.
Winter is a lovely place to explore the reserve throughout the year - get outdoors and enjoy a walk. Keep an eye out for large flocks of ducks like pintail, wigeon, teal, mallard, shoveler, shelduck, pochard, and tufted duck.
Wigeon by Tony O'Brien
There will be lots of waders around as well - snipe, lapwing, black-tailed godwit, dunlin, curlew,and ruff. Marsh harriers, peregrine, kestrel, barn owl and short-eared owl have been our regular birds of prey.
As you explore the reserve you might see stonechat, redwing and fieldfare as well. There has been some lovely views of grey wagtail from the Ken Barret hide - the bittern may well still be hidden around there too so you might get a glimpse.
If you are bringing your family along over the holidays you can hire an explorer bag for £3 per bag. It's our Twelve Days of Winter Nature Trail - head out for a walk out on the trails with a winter discovery pack and see if you can find the 12 signs of winter around the reserve! Complete the self guided activities and pick up your Wild Explorer sticker!
Check out the latest exhibition in the Purfleet hide - this month we have a selection of lovely pictures from Tony O'Brien, his first ever exhibition of solely Rainham Marshes nature reserve!
One of the lovely pictures on show in the Purfleet hide as part of Tony O'Brien's exhibition. You can always buy prints too!
Join of of our guided walks to discover the wonderful wildlife of the reserve. Our fantastic volunteers can show you the best places to see nature, answer your questions and tell you more about the reserve. The Wildlife Walks are regular walks will take place on the first Wednesday of the month at 9.30am, the second Friday of the month at 10 am and on the third Sunday of the month at 1 pm. The next walks are on Friday 14, and Sunday 16 December.
You can find our more about the events at Rainham Marshes here.
Just a note about our opening times over the Christmas period:
We will close at 2pm on Christmas Eve, and the reserve will be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day (this will include car park, visitor centre, main trails and river wall sections of the reserve). The reserve will be open as usual for the rest of the holiday period (meaning that we will be open on New Year's Eve and New Years Day): 9.30 am-4.30 pm, the cafe opens at 10am, serves food until 3pm (after that snacks and drinks are still available), and closes half an hour before the visitor centre does.