Well that was an interesting day… I got into work early to go and do an interp check on the trails before opening and set off at 0745 in the grey gloom and murk.

I did have a target in mind though as with so many Hawfinches moving through the southern half of the UK I did not see why RSPB Rainham Marshes should be left out. Between us, we have been putting in the hours skywatching during the current finch immigration…

Over the last two years I have struggled to connect with Spoonbill on the reserve and 2017 seemed to be going the same way with the dipping of a single and a trio during the spring.

However things have turned around and the wonderfully accommodating juvenile at the moment became my eighth this autumn.  It arrived on Monday and stayed around till today for me to catch up with and Tony O'Brien and I spent a great half an…

And still the birds were moving....
Sunday 15th October 2017
• RSPB Rainham Marshes: 780 Chaffinch sw, Brambling, 12 Greenfinch, 195 Goldfinch, 98 Linnet, 8 Siskin, 7 Lesser Redpoll, 96 Redwing, 4 Fieldfare, 10 Song Thrush, 2 Swallow, 2 Common Sandpiper, Tree Pipit, 5 Scandinavian Rock Pipit,145 Meadow Pipit, 6 Goldcrest, 3 Kingfisher, 17 Cetti's Warbler, 5 Curlew, 3 Greenfinch, Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 98 Jackdaw s, 5…

Evening all... sorry - been away on a not very sunny Shetland for a couple of weeks but the birding was great and the scenery epic...

Back at the reality of Rainham Marshes the predominating westerly winds have kept autumn slightly at bay but today there was a noticable visible movement of small birds into the breeze from the east and by the end of the day we had county nearly 300 Chaffinches with Gold and Green mixed…

These days we are all so busy rushing from one thing to another that we don’t notice the world around us.

Getting outside and getting some fresh air can make all the difference.

The popularity and awareness of getting outside and enjoying nature for health, and mindfulness/ ecotherapy is rising at the moment. So, I wanted to share some mindfulness tips for you to try next time you come over to the reserve..…

Morning,
How are you?

I just wanted to share some of the wildlife highlights from the last couple of days.

Waders have included:
Curlew sandpiper (Shooting Butts Hide looking at the Target Pools), little stint (Shooting Butts Hide looking at the Target Pools), ruff, dunlin, water rail (from the Marshland Discovery Zone), ringed plover, blacktailed godwit,  lapwing, redshank, snipe, and curlew.

The numbers of wildfowl…

We have a new member of the Rainham team! Meet Robyn, our new Active in Nature Development Officer.

She wanted to introduce herself to you all... take it away Robyn!

Hi everyone, I have recently joined the Rainham team as the development officer for the Active in Nature project, it has been a pleasure already getting out and about on the reserve getting to know you all and I look forward to continue doing so, if…

Pat is one of our fabulous walk leaders, and he has written a blog about his day on Friday 29 September here at Rainham Marshes.

Take it away Pat!

RSPB Rainham Marshes - Friday 29th September

A warm, sunny periods and showers day. The pintail on Averley Flash is starting to show that he’s a male as he comes out of eclipse plumage.

Only 6 species of wader seen today but that included 15 Ruff (mostly juveniles…

Every autumn or so we get a late juvenile Cuckoo and that usualy coincides with the emergence of the caterpillars of the quite scarce Reed Dagger moth which like the Oak Eggars and Drinkers in the spring and summer, seem to like crawling across the boardwalks as they move from one patch of reed to another.

Reed Dagger - John Ferguson

This makes them easy prey for a beady eyed and ever hungry Cuckoo who now has to…

A couple of weeks ago we were joined for a day by a very keen bunch from the risk management team from Santander. Jamie set them to the task of clearing all the cut reed from the area just through the woodland which has been long deserving of a hair cut and this has opened up the whole area around the bird feeding station.

It is best to remove all the cut reed so that it does not build up a thick thatch of dead matter…

I spent most of today stood on the riverwall just outside the centre engaging with almost 100 people while keeping my eyes to the skies, river and marsh. Amazingly by the end of the day we had clocked up a nice round 100 species across the site with about 90 of them from our viewpoint and the others out on the loop. If anyone saw a Whinchat or the Pintail today I would love to know!

Black Tern in the rain - Karl P…

Yesterday afternoon I pottered out with Tony O'Brien to have a look at the juvenile Black Tern on Aveley Pool.  I had only seen it from the visitors centre and was lured by the lovely images others were getting. It had just stopped raining and the bushes were still dripping in the late afternoon sun and were occupied by a host of Long-tailed Tits and various warblers shaking water droplets from their plumage as they…

You will have probably noticed that we have diverted a short section of the path near the dragonfly pool area. This is a permanent new route. It means we can remove nearly 30m of wooden boardwalk from the circuit. We have over a mile of wooden boardwalk around the reserve and the maintenance of this structure takes up a lot of time, resources and cost. The work party have done a great job over the last couple of years…

With strong westerly winds at the moment things have gone a little quieter on the reserve but we have had a stunning juvenile Black Tern fishing on Aveley Pool for the last three days.

It is so delicate and buoyant and has been attracting a steady stream of admirers as it dips down to pick up surface morsels.

What a shot from John Humble

.

These four lovely shots by the finder - Dave Morrison

and this one…

Rainham Marshes best kept secret

As most people who have visited us before know, the public access path that runs along the river wall lends itself to beautiful vistas of both the reserve and the River Thames estuary. It is a great place to watch the lapwing swoop and twirl over the reserve, spot the harbour seals basking across the river, and look out for waders at low tide.

However, what few people do know is that…

It is now Monday evening and I have had a chance to wind down after a hectic but successful little autumn fair.

It started gloriously with no wind and blue skies which made setting up of gazebos at 6.30 in the morning a little more pleasurable - thanks to Rob, Nick and Barry for pitching in so early and we were treated to at least 26 hot air balloons drfting north-east across the reserve from the take off spot of City…

The RSPB is supporting the development of this aspect of the Thames Chase project and as such I thought you might be interested in the following...

The Land of the Fanns Landscape Partnership has secured £1.3million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to deliver a 5 year, £2.4m programme to discover, celebrate and restore one of the last remaining landscapes of London as it once was. Located on the edges of east London…

Thursday 7th September 2017

• RSPB Rainham Marshes: Garganey, 269 Teal, 3 Wigeon, 22 Gadwall, 13 Little Grebe, 5 Hobby, 4 Kestrel, Buzzard, 22 Black-tailed Godwits, Curlew, 2 Green Sandpipers, 17 Ringed Plover, 42 Lapwing, Kingfisher, 6 Bearded Tit, 19 Meadow Pipit, 9 Yellow wagtail, 4 Reed Bunting, 2 House Martin, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler (HTV) 7 Whinchat (ATw, Ian…

Sorry for the late post but just a quick blog about some things that are on during the rest of this week!

• 1: Please spread the word about the Autumn Fair this Sunday 10 September. Weather is looking ok and we have nearly 30 stalls for you to visit and help support the RSPB.
• 2: Jo Collins has her exhibition up in the Purfleet Hide this week and it is fab so a visit pre-fair is a must
• 3: There are still tickets available…

Yesterday it was 'SPPPOOOONNNNBIIILLLLLL!!' and so today we went one better with a superb juvenile Osprey that dropped into Aveley Pool and spent 20 minutes not only circling around and hovering but she even made a concerted effort to catch a fish with a good splash dive into Aveley Pool.

Nearly all of us saw her from the visitors centre but John Humble was in the Butts hide and got these superb shots...

And so quite unlike yesterday, today was a brilliant bright blue sky day with fluffy clouds and although a little shower did come through it was this that brought down the best birds of the day when five Spoonbills descended in ever decreasing circles over Aveley Pool before settling down for a couple of hours.

top two by me and this one by Jacqueline Suttling - the three juveniles are on the left

This presumed…

Autumn Fair

Sunday 10 September 9.30am- 5pm

Come and join us for our fantastic autumn fair and check out our 25 or so stalls. There will be something for everyone with a multitude of wondrous art & crafts, plants, books, Matt the honey man, local RSPB groups, Dr Bike, Jamaican food, TuiNa massage, short guided walks, fossils, face painting and more!

On Friday a chap brought in an exhausted Goldcrest. He had been on the 44 bus and the driver had stopped because he saw the bird in the road in front of him. The passenger got off and picked up the little ball of fluff and then got off at the next stop and brought it into us.

He was clearly in a poor way and being a tiny insectivore I did not think that there was much I could do for him so as he perked up a little…

Sorry but it has been a busy week...

So, some sightings to keep you going for the last few days.

Autumn migrartion is under way with regular Whinchats, Wheatears, Yellow Wagtails and a variety of warblers being reported now including some good Willow warbler counts. Spotted Flycatcher and the first of the returning Redstarts have been seen and a young Turtle Dove was in the car park briefly on Thursday morning.

Hobbies…