Although the reserve is still closed to visitors, we want to help bring the site and its wonderful wildlife into your homes.

I was lucky enough to be on the reserve earlier today, undertaking essential work in line with government guidance. Raptors were very in much in evidence, with a pair of peregrine over Aveley Marsh, marsh harriers were very active, a single of both buzzard and kestrel, and then a red kite over the…

Leonora is part of our Learning Team at Rainham Marshes. She is part of the team that take out school groups when they visit on curriculum linked educational visits - that is until the country went into lockdown due to Covid19.

She is now busy at home with her family - like many parents doing some homeschooling for the first time. She wanted to share some of her experience - which of course includes outdoor learning as…

Where does the time go?

Way back in 2005 on the 4^th December, myself and Mike Dent were out on the reserve conducting the monthly Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS). It was a cold, still and overcast day I seem to recall and we had not seen anything of great note but there were very good numbers of Lapwing with about 2000 across the site.

The marsh was not yet open to the public (that was another 11 months away) and we had the…

On my once a week site security checks I have noticed that our breeding Lapwings have been settling down nicely and it looks like it could be another bumper year.

There was lots of chasing of Crows and Marsh Harriers going on and even the ducks were getting grief if they dabbled too close!

Giving a Crow some grief

The lack of visitors is also allowing the birds to behave differently and on several occasions I have…

In these unusual times it can be easy to get swept away with the situation – but it is important to take a moment for yourself. Make sure you are doing something that you enjoy – take a moment to be mindful.

Paying more attention to the present, giving notice to our own thoughts and feelings as well as our surroundings can improve mental wellbeing. This awareness is sometimes called mindfulness.

Mindfulness…

Today was my turn to visit the reserve as part of the ongoing rota between myself, Andrew and Jamie to check on the security of the visitor centre, hides and such and to make sure that our electric fence is working properly  - which thankfully it is!

The marsh was alive with birds as I did my circuit. With a much warmer day than my visit on the 30^th it was not surprising that the Lapwing and Redshank activity was more…

How your pet can help the birds...

By a rather circuitous route I have three cats. I love my cats and I love my birds therefore my cats have a Catio the full length of the side of my house which gives them access outside and keeps my garden birds out of their way. One of the three siblings is gloriously long haired and required frequent brushing but what a perfect time of year to be doing that job!

Peanut actually enjoys…

Stinging Nettles are a bit of a double edged sword in a garden.  They can take over and once you have them then, well, you have them but in the right spot they are a great boon for wildlife of all sorts as well as having culinary, dye and even string making uses.

When I dug up my little plot on Wednesday to plant my Broad Beans and Beetroot in I had to remove a good tangle of tuberous Nettle roots most of which I put in…

Homes for wildlife come in all matter of shapes and sizes from garden ponds, bug houses, nest boxes, wood piles and flower beds.

However, it is also worth creating some nooks and crannies, some safe places for ground dwellers to hide away.

Frogs, Toads, Slow-worms, Snails, Slugs, Spiders, Woodlice and Centipedes all need somewhere to get out of sight – some during the day and some at night.

Temporarily disturbed…

Its  Big Garden Birdwatch Results Day and the top ten have been announced...

And so in reverse order... drum roll please...

10^th: Magpie: Up 199% since 1979

9^th: Long-tailed Tit: Up 37% since 2010

8^th: Robin: Down 32% since 1979

7^th: Great Tit: Up 72% since 1979

6^th: Goldfinch: Up 50% since 2010

5^th: Blackbird: Down 40% since 1979

4^th: Woodpigeon: Up 1035% since 1979

3^rd: Blue Ti:t Up 20% since 1979

2^nd: Starling:…

So, over the last few days I have pushed on with jobs in the garden.  One of the problems that many of us have at the moment is the fact that all the garden centres have had to close their door so it may well be case of grow your own flowers and veg this year!

Now, I was lucky enough to have a tin with a load of different packets of flowers seeds as well as a few veg ones.  Unfortunately I keep it at work so it was one…

A message from Annie - our Retail Manager

Looking after the birds in your garden has possibly never been more important from a mental wellbeing point of view especially with so many of us sensibly house bound.  We keep being asked where do we now get our bird food from now that the RSPB reserve shops, garden centres and big hardware stores are closed?

Well, that’s nice and easy. The RSPB online shop is still operating…

Today was my first visit to the reserve in nine days.  I am now part of the team rota with Jamie and Andrew to solo visit and check on the fundamental aspects of the site such as building and hide security and electric fence checking as well as looking after our feeders around the Centre that are so important to our thriving House Sparrow population.

I arrived at 9.30 this morning after a bizarrely empty drive in from…

Well, with all the work I have been doing this week in my North Kent garden now that I can't get to our lovely reserve it has not been surprising that I have encountered an amazing amount of wildlife whilst toiling in the sunshine!

My bird list is still rather paltry with just 29 seen and heard but it has included daily Sparrowhawks, Buzzards and Mediterranean Gulls which arrive this time of year to breed on some…

I would imagine, like me, you have been having a bit of cupboard stock take over the last week, digging out all those ancient and forgotten tins of oddities like pink grapefruit slices and marrow fat peas that you inexplicably bought in the distant past.

But do not throw the cans in your recycling bin!

Upcycle them into homes for wildlife.

Bee or bug house:

• Use the contents of the elderly tinned product (or not as the…

Just a quick good morning post.  Needless to say that Recent Sightings are somewhat sparse on the ground what with the reserve being closed but one or two of the locals are still safely taking their exercise along the river wall and reported some great Marsh Harrier activity out over Wennington with at least three males and four females sparring and engaging in lots of display.  Let's hope that they settle down for another…

Following the latest clear instructions from the Government for us all to remain at home apart from a limited number of allowed activities, we are closing our reserve to visitors until further notice.

 

This means we will close our car park, toilets, main trail, hides and playground to the public. These measures are on top of the existing closure of our visitor centre, cafe and shop. The South Essex resersves will also be…

Early morning update, Rainham Marshes car park and main trails now closed. Full update later. Stay safe everyone!

We have made the difficult decision to close the main trails at Rainham Marshes in an effort to help restrict the spread of coronavirus. The car park and River Wall trails will remain open if you would like to get out into nature and enjoy a walk, this will take place from Tuesday 24 March.

The safety of our visitors, volunteers and staff are paramount – please follow social distancing guideline of staying 2 m away from…

From Howard:

Another day in the garden...some more spring tidying, frog rescuing, dead fence making and hopeful sky watching...

www.youtube.com/watch

One rescued common frog:

If you would like some information about wildlife gardening you can have a look at the RSPB website: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/ 

From Howard:

Afternoon all... Been out the garden the last two days. A few little jobs that you may also be able to do. The wildlife still needs us!

www.youtube.com/watch

You may have seen my last post (you can see it here). We have made the difficult decision to close our Rainham Marshes visitor centre, café, shop, and hides to visitors. We want help you enjoy nature at this time, which is why we are keeping our trails and car park open at no charge.

Please read this whole post for full details of everything you need to know!

https://youtu.be/Lfevu_EZtWs

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Where can I walk?

You can…

Following the latest government advice we have made the difficult decision to close our Rainham Marshes visitor centre, café, shop, and hides to visitors. This will take effect from 5 pm on Friday 20 March. This is to prioritise the health and welfare of our staff, volunteers and visitors. (Keep reading for more details about trail access - click on the headline to see the whole post.)

These are difficult and unsettling…

Yesterday I put out a blog here, talking about the sightings. Some of the highlights were the white storks, short-eared owl and barn owl.

Some of our wonderful visitors took some cracking shorts and I had to share!

Tricia Cambell took these pictures of the two storks flying around the reserve:

Jim Cambell took some lovely shots of the owls:

 Barn owl

 Short-eared owl

Fabulous pictures - thank you for sharing Tricia…