Arctic wader special with 51 ringed plover, 11 sanderling, dunlin, 21 grey plover and turnstone on Aveley Bay.

Check out this video by Pat Hart - Sanderling, Ringed Plover , Dunlin and Redshank RSPB Rainham Marshes 25.5.18

15 of the total of 31 Grey Plovers seen today (HTV)

A closer shot from Andy Reid

A Sanderling moulting into summer plumage (HTV)

Today's Spoonbill on the pool behind targets visible from…

Drop in to Rainham Marshes this half term to take part in some fabulous family activities. You can pick up an adventure trail sheet from our Visitor Centre at any time though the holidays, or there's something on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Make a day of it - discover Rainham Marshes by enjoying our family activities, play in the adventure playground, hire a bike, explore with a trail sheet, enjoy lunch…

We had three groups of Black Terns move through today, four found at lunchtime on the Thames before moving inland and east, followed by 20 an hour later which were joined by seven more. These also went inland and east up the Mardyke very high. The presence of two White-winged Blacks amongst them was suspected but the light was terrible over the river but better as they headed off into the blue. Thankfully Andy Tweed's…

This weekend's wildlife highlights have included:

The Spoonbill has been on the Target Pools this weekend - it was seen well on Friday, seen from about 4pm on Saturday and was seen flying over the reserve at 8am on Sunday.

Spoonbill at Rainham Marshes by Alan Reynolds

Lots of birds of prey - fantastic views of hobby, marsh harrier, sparrowhawk, kestrel and buzzard. This afternoon Joanne and some lucky visitors…

We met a fantastic 6 year old yesterday who had challenged himself to cycle 20km to fund raise for the RSPB.

Lorcan is six years old and after watching the Marathon decided that he could do something to raise some money for charity.

He says "I love birds, especially peregrine falcons but also all animals. The RSPB help protect them. I will do some cycling for 20km on the 19th May at Rainham Marshes. There’s a 6 mile…

Robyn has written us a blog about a brand new Active in Nature activity... take it away Robyn:

Back to Nature Bootcamp – brand new fitness sessions

Want to get fit but don’t want to join a gym? Join our new boot camp session on the reserve!

What to expect?
Using a mix of highly effective body weight exercises to get your heart pumping and burn some calories, we want to help you feel healthier and reach your…

On Sunday afternoon I spent a few minutes in the Wildlife Garden with the camera but have only just got round to looking at the pics...

Amazing what you can find under your nose in a tea break... why not try the same thing at home or even at work if you have a green space? 

A well laden Solitary Bee...

A male Solitary Bee...

A Cheilosia species of hoverfly - I think I know which one but they are very difficult…

Perhaps one of the the most amazing images taken on the reserve this year...

We know that our Grey Herons are very competant catchers of ducklings and such like but there is just something about this tiny Little Grebe chick taking one last look at the world that pulls at the heart strings...

A captured moment by Pete Woods...

12-5-18

Saturday 12th May 2018

• RSPB Rainham Marshes: imm Spoonbill, 2 Greenshank, 12 Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, 4 Oystercatcher, m Grey Wagtail, 120 Swift, 3m Cuckoo singing, 2 Hobby, Buzzard, 2-cy Common Gull, 2 Common Sandpiper, 18 Common Tern, 2m Marsh Harrier, Bearded Tit, 2pr Great Crested Grebe, 7 Little Egret

Some brief highlights....

Spoonbill - Helen Mathias

Plastic litter is having a huge impact on our oceans.

Here at Rainham we have a few ways that we are trying to reduce the single use plastics - including an offer for you...

Customers bringing their own reusable cups will be rewarded with a 20p discount from your hot drinks for helping reduce waste. 

The team in the cafe have also:

• replaced any plastic straws
• if you want a cup for cold drinks they are not plastic…

Good morning,

During May we run two Dawn Chorus Walks - one was on Sunday 6 May, and the next one is coming up this weekend on Sunday 13 May, 4-7 am.

Fabulous picture of the moon, just before we started walking, by David Dent

Last Sunday everyone enjoyed the magic of dawn, and were serenaded through the woodland by song thrush, blackcap, robin, blackbird and loudest of all cuckoo. One of the highlights was seeing…

Evening all.. well I was not expecting to add a species of butterfly to the RSPB Rainham Marshes list today but no sooner had I stepped from the car than a small brown fluttery thing zipped by.. funny moth I thought unti it stopped on a Dandelion and I realised that it was a Dingy Skipper. To the best of my knowledge Essex does not have any sites for this species at the moment...

9-5-18

Good morning!

It's Bank Holiday Monday, and we are open as usual (9.30 am-5 pm).

Have a wonderful day everyone!

This morning we had our first Dawn Chorus Walk!

Dawn over the reserve taken this morning...

Ivor, one of the attendees told us about his highlights: "fabulous dawn chorus walk this morning. Bit fresh to start but serenaded all through the woodland by song thrush, blackcap, robin, blackbird and loudest of all cuckoo. Stunning display by the barn owl in the early morning mist then as the sun came up close encounters…

Hello everyone.

Andrew Gouldstone, the Site Manager here at Rainham Marshes, has written a wildlife update blog for you - take it away Andrew:

Migrants at last have started to return, despite the recent cold, windy and wet weather of earlier this week. Swallows, sand martins and house martins are now regular, and even the later arriving swifts are now to be seen in the skies over the reserve on a daily basis.

Hello!

We are in need of some pond dippers and chatters! If you like talking to people, or pond dipping then this could be for you...

We are looking for people to help at family activities during the school holidays - you get to spend the day working with families, pond dipping (or searching for minibeasts, or a whole host of other fun family activities) which is a lot of fun and very rewarding. If you're keen to…

The Dawn Chorus Walks are nearly here! There are a few spaces if you would like to come along!

Tony O'Brien

The walks are taking place on 6 and 13 May from 4-7 am – you will explore the reserve to experience the dawn chorus and the guides will help you to identify what is out there at this time of the year followed by a much needed bacon or sausage bap and a hot drink in the café (which is included in cost).…

Good morning,

Unfortunately, we have decided to cancel Little Lapwings, our toddler group for the forseeable future.

When we set it up we were hoping that we could train up a volunteer to take over, but we have not been able to find one. The Learning Team have a fantastic number of school visit bookings, which is great news but means Julie (our Learning Officer) doesn't have the time to devote to it now. Our current…

With a brisk southerly breeze the gateway has finally opened to allow a flood of migrants to our shores. Whitethroats now line the Riverwall and severel Lesser Whitethroats have been rattling too. Blackcaps and Sedge Warblers have increased and the first Grasshopper Warblers have been heard.

Cetti's warblers have been particularly showy at the moment which has pleased many usually frustrated visitors.

Bill Cr…

Evening all...

No lengthy wordage from me this evening but just the highlights to tempt you into a weekend visit....

The Black-necked Grebe remained and had moved to Aveley Pool while the Great White Egret was being very mobile today.

Black-necked Grebe - David Lee

Great White - HTV

Quite a few martins moving through this morning and at least five Willow Warblers mainly around the centre and car park area.  The…

RSPB #SaveLodgeHill – The battle goes on...

So, Lodge Hill SSSI and its nightingales are still under grave threat.

With the help of thousands of people like you, we have been fighting to #SaveLodgeHill for a number of years. In a long-running saga, we have repeatedly made the case that Medway Council should not be allowed to allocate Lodge Hill for development. Thanks to this pressure, and a huge public outcry…

The continued murky conditions this week have brought in a few new birds although the conditions and especially the quality ofthe light have made it feel more like November!

A flock of 42 Common Scoter drifted up river on Monday and two Goosander were also seen - the latter is a rare bird here.

Scoter flock - Andy Tweed

Goosanders - Andy Tweed

Wednesday saw proper mist and early rain and there were plenty of waders…

It has been a busy post Easter week on the reserve so far with a typical mix of weather conditions that have a last allowed a few spring migrants to sneak into the country.

But we shall start with the long stayers first with the Great White Egret continuing to perform to all comers with a little patience. He seems to have forsaken the narrow ditch behind Purfleet Scrape and is now usually to be found in the ditch along…