Hi everyone,

Cattle and little egrets have been showing quite nicely over the last few days, so I thought it was a good time to post some details about the two so you can tell them apart!

Cattle egret are slightly smaller but much rarer than the little egret, cattle egrets are visiting the UK in increasing numbers (although wintering numbers are only about 100 in the UK). They often spend time close to livestock and…

With the odd spell of actually pleasant weather there was the opportunity to find some more inverts around Reception at work and trying to educate the visiting public about just how amazing leaving a patch of grass to run wild in the garden can be.

The ‘left patches’ around the play area have several Wasp Spiders nestled away in their little open pockets in the sward.  People always seem amazing that the spider…

Just a quick sightings post!

A Great White Egret was knocking about the marsh up until Wednesday and there has been a slow trickle of waders starting to move through.  The Target pool and Purfleet Scrape still have water which is great and hopefully we shall have a good autumn to come.

Great White Egret - John Humble

and the highlights from yesterday...

• RSPB Rainham Marshes:- 3 Avocet, 43 Lapwing…

This summer your adventure starts with us - explore the reserve and have a fabulous family adventure.

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 Wild in the Woods - picture by Louise Moss

What's on this summer? We have a Wild in the Woods - a Forest School inspired event for 18 month olds - 8 years!

#HenHarrierDay is today, and will be streaming live from 10am on Youtube with hosts @urbanbirder & @laurenSJcook. The full programme can be found at http://henharrierday.uk/hhdo-2021

In conjunction with World Nature Day we will be running another plastic clean up.

If you are free on Wednesday 28 July, 10 am-1 pm - we need help with a litter pick!

Picture by Howard Vaughan.

We need your help.

Join us on Wednesday 28 July - meet other nice people and get your lungs pumped up with fresh air and enjoy the beauty of this particular river urban landscape. We will be litter picking along the foreshore of…

Your adventure starts here!

This summer your adventure starts with us - explore the reserve and have a fabulous family adventure.

Explore the reserve with our nature by numbers trail - can you solve the clues and be a wild explorer? Activity packs will help you explore the reserve - these include a nature book, trail sheet, pencil and certificate so you are all ready for your adventure. Activity packs cost £3.50 (card…

As restrictions ease further in England, we’re excited to continue to have many of our facilities OPEN for your visit!

Here’s a summary of what’s available from Tuesday 20 July 2021:

• The reserve will be open Tuesday-Sunday, 9.30 am-5 pm
• Car park
• Outdoor, staffed Welcome Point
• Nature reserve trails - you can explore our circular walk (the one way system will be removed - you can now go either way round…

This years Hen Harrier Day will be online.

Hen Harrier Action is proud to announce their latest event -  Hen Harrier Day Online will be on Sunday 1 August. The event will be hosted by David Lindo, the Urban Birder, and Lauren Cook, who won our Early Career Naturalist Challenge in 2020. Starting at 10 am, it will have a great mix of video, stories of rewilding and restoring nature to the uplands, competition results and…

Today the sun actually shone and at times there was even some heat to be appreciated.  As such reception duty today brought with it some insect opportunities and by the close of play we had seen the following Butterflies: - Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Small White, Green veined White, Large White, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Small Copper, Holly Blue, Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Large Skipper and Small Copper. 

It was another week of big white flappy things out on the marsh and We were graced once again by the presence of a White Stork.  It was first seen in flight on Wednesday but has since then been wandering around on Wenning marsh munching of frogs and anything else vaguely edible.

This one appears to be unrung but in theory could still be a Knepp project bird. Whereever it comes from it is still a delight to see such an…

Afternoon!

Just a quick post for today - we are pleased to announce all four of our hides are now open!

We have had two of the hides open for a while, but as of today all are open for you to enjoy.
Please wear a mask when using the hides.

Purfleet Hide by Jodi Randall (rspb-images.com)

Hi everyone,

Just a quick blog to let you know that we had lovely views of a spoonbill yesterday (Saturday 19 June)!

 It was in the middle of Aveley Marsh (the bit you can see from the Purfleet hide) yesterday!

Spoonbill by Howard Vaughan - taken at Rainham, but this photo was taken earlier this year

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One of our fabulous volunteers Pat had a nice walk around the reserve on Friday and wanted to share his sightings:

Hello everyone,

My highlights from Friday were:- swift, cuckoo, oystercatcher, avocet, lapwing, redshank, sparrowhawk, marsh harrier, bearded tit, sand martin, swallow, house martin, cetti's warbler, chiffchaff, sedge warbler, reed warbler, blackcap, and whitethroat.

The swifts whirling overhead are…

Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

We’ll be opening the shop and cafe at the later time of 12 noon today, Thursday 17 June, due to team training. ️We apologise for any inconvenience.

The nature reserve and toilets can still be accessed as normal from 9.30 am

We’ll be opening the shop and cafe at the later time of 12 noon on Thursday 17 June, due to team training. ️We apologise for any inconvenience.

The nature reserve and toilets can still be accessed as normal from 9.30 am

Thank you!

I got into work a little early today and took myself out onto the Southern Trail for a short walk before things warmed up too much.  My hayfever was already bad so I stopped to rest my eyes for a while and decided to take the opportunity to open my senses to what I could experience around me.

Being on the borders of a marsh always gives you the best chance of a wide selection of wildlife but could I identify more than…

If you love talking to people and sharing your passion about nature, this may be the role for you. We are looking for a  six month, part time, Centre Assistant role here at Rainham Marshes.

Part of the Thames Estuary, not far from the bustling streets of London, Rainham Marshes is a haven for all kinds of wildlife - birds, water voles, dragonflies and more. We have a wonderful visitor centre with cafe, shop toilets, bike…

If you are free on Sunday 27 June, 10 am-1 pm - we need help with a litter pick!

With the exceptionally high tides recently a huge amount of rubbish has washed up on the foreshore of the Thames on the River Wall section of the reserve.

Picture by Howard Vaughan.

We need your help.

Join us on Sunday 27 June - meet other nice people and get your lungs pumped up with fresh air and enjoy the beauty of this particular river…

Morning all – just an update on where we are with access to the reserve and such like at the moment...

• The reserve is open from 9.30am to 5pm Tuesday through to Sunday. We are currently still closed on Mondays – and don’t forget we lock the car park gates at 5pm too!
• The shop is open for business as usual for all your bird food, bird care, gift and books but only selling binoculars and telescopes is…

After a bitterly cold and grey May it was nice to have a little warmth at the end there has been plenty to see and hear out on the trails over the last few days.

The marsh is now full of breeding birds with Reed, Sedge and Cetti’s Warblers in full song along with some smart male Reed Buntings at last. 

Cetti's warbler - Bob Cooper

Reed Warbler - Alan Chown

Reed Bunting - HTV

Bearded Tits are having a good…

Planning a trip to the seaside this weekend?

Our beach nesting birds (like these little tern chicks below) are particularly vulnerable at this time of year. Help us keep them safe by reading our quick tips on how to #ShareOurShores.

https://essexwt.org.uk/what-we-do/protecting-wildlife/projects/share-our-shores…

From tomorrow, our Purfleet hide and Ken Barrett hide will reopen. Please maintain social distancing and wear a face covering when using the hides. All doors and windows will have been opened by staff and volunteers ready for you.