that a pair of Rainham Lapwings have hatched their first chick...

Big smiles all round ;o)

No, I am not at Rainham today but that has not stopped the phone from ringing about all the exciting birds that have been seen on the marsh today. Garganey, Whimbrel, Greenshank and Spotted Redshank have all been discovered along with a flyover Goshawk and the first singing Nightingale for two years.  A Large Red Damselfly was seen on Thursday and the Marsh Frogs are definitely in full croak mode now.  Nine species of butterfly…

The last week has been quite strange at Rainham with clear blue skies and no evidence of non-feathered air travel anywhere to be seen. It made trying to point out passing buzzards and the odd peregrine difficult with no reference points to get visitors onto. A hobby has been seen today over the Silt Lagoons.

We are now back to normal with a ski full of crisscrossing vapour trails and white fluffy clouds. At least there…

The last few days have remained cold and windy but by lunchtime today that pesky northerly had been replaced by a slightly warmer easterly. Hopefully this will continue to swing round so that we can have a southerly over the weekend, allowing all this summer's migrants tied up on the continent to make it across the sea. Today has seen a few more Sand Martins and Swallows on the move and a Yellow Wagtail was with our…

With the wind swinging round to the north east we have lost that little touch of spring time that we had in the middle of last week. A Whimbrel was new in on the foreshore today and a single Grey Plover called mournfully over the marsh at high tide. Two Sand Martins and a Swallow were the only sign of onward migrant movement. Unsurprisingly no butterflies today!

Two nice days on the trot!  No sign of yesterdays Black-winged Stilt but more Whitethroats, Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs singing. The Great Spotted Woodpeckers are still  excavating their hole in the chestnuts and a Buzzard drifted north. A Grasshopper Warbler was heard reeling early this morning. Hopefully it will attract a mate.

Today saw the arrival of yet another amazing bird with a ridiculouly leggy Black-winged Stilt elegantly strutting around on the pools infront of the centre all day. This rare visitor from the Med certainly brightened up our day. It had spent the previous day on the Isle of Wight before touching down with us. This is the second time that this species has been seen here with the last being as long ago 1997. I have posted…

Sunshine!  A glorious morning with some warmth in the air!

A fine drake garganey and a female ring ouzel have got the day off to a fine start!

Morning all

A busy weekend on the reserve with some good birds and lots of visitors. A Hoopoe paid a brief visit for a few hours on Sunday evening and we managed to arrange access for everyone on the site as it was in an area normally off limits.

Hoopoe by Barry Jackson

Unfortunately it was not around on Monday despite searching. Migrants were still very thin on the ground although the first House Martins were blown…

sorry, forgot to add that we have several up and coming soring time events:

• Meet The Voles guided walk  - Sunday 11 April 11am - 2pm
• Be a Better Photographer guided walks - Saturday 24 10am-1pm and Friday 14 May 1pm-4pm.  There are only 10 places available on each of these new walks so please book early if you are interested. Dawn Chorus Sunday 16 and Sunday 23 May -  4am start!
• Dusk Walk Thursday 27 7pm- 10pm
• Insect…

Morning all on Easter Sunday.

A better day weather wise yeaterday but still migrants are thin on the ground. A Sedge Warbler thought about singing but decided to stay in the reeds but our resident Cetti's Warblers were making lots of noise and several visitors got excellent views. A flock of 33 Golden Plover came in at high tide along with 17 Curlews and a few Redshank and four Short-eared Owls were seen at the west…

Happy Easter everyone. We have been pretty busy today with lots of visitors turning up for the Easter Eggstavaganza treasure hunt. This will be running every day until 18th April. No need to book. Just turn up and join in £1.50 for Wildlife Explorers and £3 for non-members.

A few birds on the move today with five Swallows and two Sand Martins hedaing north and four Wheatears on the river wall. The pair of…

Despite the strong winds yesterday the contractors managed to crane all the parts of the new Shooting Butts Hide into place and fit them all together. There is still a lot to do but it is already an eyecatching structure and will undoubtedly afford excellent views over both Aveley and Wennington Marshes as it peeps over the top of the old MoD mantlet bank. Hopefully it will not take too long to complete!

A wet and wild week on the reserve so far with strong wind dampening any arrival of summer migrants. A couple of Wheatears were on the 'Ouzel Fields' and we even had a real Ring Ouzel but he was on the river wall! A few Sand Martins and Swallows got blown through and Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were trying their best to be heard in the windy woodland. A pair of Marsh Harriers were still floating around and a Red Kite headed…

Afternoon all,

It looks like the Rainham Marshes Blog is now alive and well and viewable to you all, so welcome!

A very blustery day with a keen south easterly wind but unfortunately not much in the way of migrant movemnent. Two Sand Martins zoomed south and a single Little Ringed Plover was back on the Marshland Discovery Zone pools. With such a strong winds many of the smaller birds have been keeping low today but…

On the reserve early today and was pleased to see that the Jack Snipe was still infront of the Ken Barrett hide with seven Common Snipe. The Great Crested Grebes were in full display on Aveley Pools and Little Grebes were giggling everywhere. The Little Egrets are now getting frisky... how long before they actually try and breed on the reserve.

Then the rain came down and it has not stopped since! A short walk did not…

It was a glorious start to the day but we are back in the cold again with thick grey cloud and a stiff chilly breeze. Several Lizards were seen out and about earlier but have now sort shelter again. The Wheatears are still in the 'Ouzel Fields' beyond the Marshland Discovery Zone and four Little Ringed Plovers were seen again.

A stripy Jack Snipe was found bobbing out in front of the Ken Barrett Scrape this afternoon…

Ok, here we go then... first post on the Rainham Marshes blog. It is a glorious morning with blue skies and, unlike yesterday, not a breath of wind.

Yesterday saw singing Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps in the woodland and two pair of Little Ringed Plovers are already looking quite at home on the wonderfully wet scrapes. Eight dapper Wheatears hopped around the anthill fields. A couple of Sand Martins and a Swallow headed…