Good news! The glossy ibis has returned and is happily feeding along the back fence of the meadow. Yet another opportunity for people to find out how conservation benefits all wildlife.

Come down after school and bring the kids to see this rarity. We are open until 4.45pm. You should be able to see the ibis until around 4.00pm. Keep an eye on the blog for more information.

Its so exciting working at Rye meads!

Well what a week!

Tuesday started out a normal day I was out with the usual volunteer work party coppicing some sallows along the west bank of Draper Hide. The chaps had all gone to lunch and i was watching the fire when i get a call from Caroline saying Graham White has found a glossy ibis on the meadow. Wow exciting a life tick for me and at Rye Meads. But i can't leave the fire until some one gets back.  Fortunatly…

Good morning

It is a beautiful day, blue sky, sun shining and Glossy Ibis roaming the meadow.  If you have not managed to stop by and visit the reserve recently it is well worth a look today, (though you will need to wrap up it is a bit chilly). We have great birds to see with the male pintail, redwing, red poll, green sandpiper, water rail, snipe and kingfisher along with our star bird the Glossy Ibis (I think i may…

Good morning. I am pleased to let you know that the Glossy Ibis is still on site. 

We opened again at 8am this morning and it was very atmospheric if chilly morning with a low mist over the meadow.  After a fifteen worrying minutes of being unable to locate the Ibis, there he was in his usal place along the back fence line having a snooze so his head was tucked under his wing and gazing through the mist there was just a…

We will be opening at 8.00am tomorrow morning (Friday 8th November) to give the workers a chance to see this fab bird. Just pull in to the carpark and go straight to the Lapwing hide in the car park. One of our staff members will be there to help you find the ibis. We hope the ibis will still be here tomorrow. It has been feeding all day. Check RSPBRyeMeadsTwitter for latest information in the morning. Information will…

This wonderful bird has returned to Rye Meads. Thanks to the excellent managament of the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust meadow the Glossy ibis will have no trouble finding food. Come down to the reserve for a chance to see this bird and find out more about autumn migrants.

Calling all art fans!!

Rye Meads classrooms will turn into a bit of an art gallery for the coming week while local artists Steve Kershaw and Alan Harris display their work focused on wildlife and nature.

The exhibition will go up this Saturday 9th November and remain until the following Sunday 17th November.

Black-necked grebes - Alan Harris

Turtle Doves - Steve Kershaw

Make sure you plan some time over the 9…

There is a Glossy Ibis on the HMWT Meadow at Rye Meads. It has been showing well moving around the area of short grass feeding in amongst the black headed gulls and  canada geese. The meadow is currently looking really good and is nicely flooded. This is the first record of Glossy Ibis at Rye Meads a realy treat.

We will be open from 8am wednesday 6 November for those of you who want to stop off on your way to work to…

Hello

Since the clocks changed a couple of weeks ago our evenings are defiantly drawing in. At Rye Meads we normally open from 10am until 5pm however at this time of year we start to close earlier and earlier as the night draws in. This is a great opportunity for you to experience the reserve in a new light, a time of day you would not normally get to experience at Rye Meads, Dusk.

Dusk is a period starting as the sun…

Welcome to November

As it is the first of the month I cleared off our sightings board today and spent a couple of hours on site too see whats about so i could add some up to date sightings to the empty board.  After a couple of hours I ended up with 48 avian species and a few  non avian, these included rabbit, water vole, red admiral, common darter and a Hawker species that i did not catch up with quick enough. Bird species…

Hello

I have been keeping the Tuesday and Thursday work party participants busy this week clearing up the storm damage. Our regular volunteers were boosted this half term week as we had 4 young men volunteering as part of their Duke of Edinburgh.  On Tuesday we cleared the semi fallen sallows to open up access to the gadwall hide, cleared the rest of the fallen branches from the turnstile area, fished out of the lagoon and…

Hello

Local artist Steve Kershaw painted this lovely Turtle Dove water colour for us to Raffle off in aid of Operation Turtle Dove. 

  www.stevekershawwildlifeart.co.uk

Operation Turtle Dove, launched on the 10th May 2012, is a project which aims to reverse the decline of one of England’s best loved farmland birds, the Turtle Dove. The project partners are the RSPB, Conservation Grade, Pensthorpe Conservation …

Hello

I have checked out the whole site and cleared up some of the trail blockages but there are still a few closures to make you aware of. The Draper hide is closed and will remain closed until further notice thanks to the tree that has fallen on it punching some holes in the roof but luckily little else seeems damaged even the CCTV camera seems in tact.  The Tern hide is open but there is no access to Gadwall hide due…

Hello

Well the storm past much quicker than anticipated so we are going to open at 10.30 this morning. However i have not carried out a full survey of the reserve yet so please be aware that some hides or trails may be closed , currently the Draper hide is closed and will remain closed until we can remove the tree that has fallen on it and repair any damage caused. Once i have carried out a complete survey i will let…

Hi folks

We are going to close Rye Meads first thing due to the weather forecast of high winds. It looks like the wind will drop mid morning and if so, we will walk the reserve to make a check and if all is well, open back up.

Please watch this space for an update tomorrow.

Thanks

Joan

Hello again

I am finally back from my holidays and training courses etc and it has been a while since I posted a blog so sorry about that but I should be able to get back in to the swing of posting now.

Well you were in for some treats in October (that will teach me to go on holiday).

An Osprey flew over on 6^th, 7 whooper swan landed on lagoon 1 for a few minutes on 11 October frustrating a few who were on site but…

The weather forecast is very windy for Monday. Please note that we will be shutting the reserve if the wind is strong due to the risk of falling branches and the dangers of getting staff and volunteers to the reserve.

Thanks

Joan

Hi Folks

I've been out of the office for a while, but in response to some of the latest blogs (and this isn't my area of expertise at all!) I have been reassured by our Communications Officer in the regional office that a new Digital Strategy will be rolled out over the next 6 months and will make the necessary improvements. As it happens we do not officially use Flickr but if members of the public want to set up…

The RSPB has set up a Thunderclap to help promote Giving Nature a Home. The Thunderclap is due to go live on Saturday evening. Please join our thunderclap now by clicking on the link.

Thank you

A surprise visitor to the reserve today has everyone in a flutter.  

If you've never seen an owl before come down to the reserve now and one of our volunteers will show you this beautiful bird. Bring the children, they'll love it!

It's a great place to come in the rain as you will be sitting in a nice dry hide watching this most unusual bird.

There's plenty of other birds to see. There are 150+ snipe on…

It's a great day to be out birding despite the weather. Red Kite over the Lagoons.

Come on down and share in the fun

A short-eared owl is showing well from the Draper hide right now! Its been there since 11.00am.

This is the highlight of the BigVis. Arrived at the reserve at 7.00am in the pouring rain! Stuck it out till 10.30. Had 81 redwing, 3 meadow pipits 2 grey wagtails 2 chaffinch 25 starlings and 28 lapwings.  Fortunately the short-eared owl made it all worthwhile.

Also 152 snipe on Lagoon 1 from the Tern Hide.

Keeping warm…

Our lovely volunteer Dean did a wildlife watch today from the Tern Hide and spotted more than 100 snipe, lots of grey wagtails, green and common sandpipers, and lots of ducks including several wigeon.

It's a lovely autumn day and the weather is beautiful!

. . . have just flown off. A short but sweet visit!

Joan

There are 7 whooper swans on Lagoon 1 now!

Joan