Great shot by Peter Hewitt

Rye Meads nature reserve is opening early for 10 lucky people on Saturday 26 May from 7-10 am, this opportunity for RSPB members only (or join on the day) will give you exclusive use of the reserve, including all the hides.

The kingfishers at the Kingfisher Hide are due to fledge around the 18 May, so you should get stunning views as they carry out courtship activities around the bank ready…

Morning everyone,

How are you?

Over at the Kingfisher hide there are a few things... the kingfishers are still  feeding young, but don't just look for kingfishers! There is quite a lot around! It's a good place for little birds blue tits (there is a pair nesting in the kingfisher bank too!), great tits, wrens, robins, blackbirds, chaffinchs, and more.

When in the hide you should look up and down too!

There…

Morning all!

how are you today?

There is a lovely male garganey at the Draper hide right now!
He's stunning!

Garganeys are scarce, so rather nice to see! They are alightly smaller than a mallard, but just bigger than a teal. Look out for the distinctive white stripe over the eye.
 For more information about garganey click here for a link to the RSPB id pages

The kingfishers are doing well!
The pair at the

Hi everyone,

The other day I told you about the escaped buffalo...

Thought I would give you a quick update!

So the other day we had to close the reserve as the buffalo escaped...
They had a great time exploring the reserve....
 

Can I come in?

(Buffalo pictures by me)

So, since then all of the buffalo and Konic ponies have been taken off of the meadow. After all the rain we had…

Afternoon everyone,

How are you?

Happy Bank Holiday Monday!

Just thought I would let you know some of the wildlife highlights of the day...

The kingfishers have been showing nicely today. The Gadwall hide the pair have been quite active, it seems they have decided on a hole, and are doing their thing. They've been seen mating, so hopefully they will start laying eggs soon.

The pair at the Kingfisher hide are…

Stepping up is easy and fun!

Nature is in trouble – so millions of people are stepping up to help. Our wildlife has been disappearing at an alarming rate. But small steps make a big difference. If we all act together and get stuck in, we can save our wildlife.

You can start helping the wildlife around you right away! On the Stepping Up for Nature pages (click here), you’ll find loads of quick and easy ways to…

Good morning everyone!

It's 7.50 am, but I've been here since 4.30 am because we've had a very special walk today - the Dawn Chorus!

It's International Dawn Chorus Day - so we ran a walk to try and hear this miracle of nature, and identify the different calls.

Well, I thought I would let you know all that we heard and saw...

Heard singing:
Robin, blackbird, great tit, blue tit, dunnock, chaffinch…

Hello everyone,

I hope that you are well.

Just wanted to give you an update about the going's on!

We're getting great views of the kingfishers!
At the Gadwall hide the pair have been quite active, exploring the bank, and they were seen mating yesterday, so fingers crossed!

The pair at the Kingfisher hide have been showing off nicely. They are currently feeding young, so the adults are being seen quite…

Good morning!

I hope that you are all well.

I just wanted to let you all the know about a fabulous Barn Owl Watch that is happening tomorrow - Sunday 6 May.

On Sunday 6 May, the Lapwing hide will open from 8-9.30 pm so we can try and get a lovely view of the barn owls hunting over the meadow! Don't miss out! You don't need to book, just pop along! And, it's free!

   Picture by Andy Johnson

I am happy to say that we are open as usual today!

The buffalo are safe and sound!

:)

Unfortunately the reserve is closed today. The buffalo have escaped!

We are hoping to be open as usual later today, give us a ring on 01992 708383 if you want to find out of we are open - I'll keep you up to date!

Rye Meads nature reserve is opening early for 10 lucky people on Sunday 6 May from 7-10 am, this opportunity for RSPB members only (or join on the day) will give you exclusive use of the reserve, including all the hides.

The kingfishers at the Kingfisher Hide have hatched their first brood so you should get fabulous views of these stunning birds as they go in and out of the nesting bank feeding those hungry babies…

We think that the kingfisher chicks have hatched at the Kingfisher Hide as visitors have seen fish being taken into the bank!

Adults start taking fish into the bank once that eggs have hatched. Each chick can eat 12-18 fish a day, and are fed in rotation - once a chick is fed, it moves to the back of the nest to digest it's meal, causing the others to move forward.

Woohoo!

The best time to see the kingfishers…

Morning everyone!

There are lots of lovely events and activities planned, so I thought I would give you a quick head-up!

On Sunday 6 May we have a Dawn Chorus walk, from 4.45-6.45 am!
 We are going to be exploring the reserve, and hoping to hear the dawn chorus. It's a guided walk so we will be pointing out different bird songs and helping you to identify some for yourself!
It's a great walk, I always look forward…

Morning everyone!

How are you today?

I wanted to share with you some exciting news!

The first of the seasons common terns have been spotted sitting on the rafts!

Common terns nest on the specially designed and built rafts at the reserve. The rafts were designed and built at the reserve by volunteers, and they have been so successful they have been copied all over the country!

The terns will spend summer here -…

Hi everyone,

So today we have a kingfisher day at the reserve - it's been going really well. We have staff and volunteers up at the kingfisher hide telling everyone what is going on, we've got a special kingfisher trail for children and colouring!

The kingfisher pair did their first change over at 10.30am, the female went out and off to fish, and the male went into the bank to do his stink incubating the eggs…

While a pair of kingfishers sit on eggs in the Kingfisher Bank, a second pair has started to investigate the bank visible from the Gadwall Hide. Last year two pairs of kingfishers nested on the reserve, and it's looking good for two pairs again this year! Visit us this weekend while we have our Kingfisher Date With Nature running and take a look at our kingfishers.

Joan Childs, Site Manager

The pair of nesting kingfishers at Rye Meads is busy doing shift-swaps today at the nestbank . . . one in, one out, one keeping the eggs warm the other out looking for food. We have a Kingfisher Date With Nature event on today and tomorrow (21 and 22 April) with staff at the hide telling our visitors about these beautiful birds. Why not come and have a look at our kingfishers! A great event for the whole family with a…

We want to know what slithers, tweets, forages and snuffles in your garden or local park this summer!

Make Your Nature Count, running from 2-10 June 2012, asks you all to count the wildlife in their garden over the summer.

Not only are we asking you to record birds, we also want to know about some of the other wildlife visiting your garden, like hedgehogs, deer, squirrels and - for the first time ever - slow-worms…

A common question at Rye Meads is "how do you tell the difference between a male and a female kingfisher?"

Well I thought I would help out with this blog...

Male and female kingfishers are very similar, have a look at this picture below of last years pair:

 fab picture by Malcolm Housden

They are very similar... but the way to tell them apart is to remember: the female kingfisher wears lipstick!

The female…

Hi everyone,

I wanted to let you all know about this weekend is going to be a kingfisher weekend at the reserve!

Some of our lovely staff and volunteers will be out on the reserve at the kingfisher hide this weekend, so come along and say hello!
They will be telling you what has been happening, show you what is about, and there will be some colouring for children too!

The kingfisher have been the star of the show recently…

Hi everyone,

How are you this fine morning? The sun is shining and the reserve looks lovely!

Just a quick blog to give you a little update -

I heard my first cuckoo of the year at Rye Meads yesterday! Very exciting, creatures are starting to arrive bak at Rye Meads... what will we see next?
Cuckoos are great birds, do keep an ear out for the marvelous song of the male (I do like it when birds sing their own names, very…

Hi everyone,

There is a fabulous new Eye on Rye available for Spring! Download it via the link below.

If you want your picture to feature in the next issue, please e-mail Peter.

 Lovely picture by Peter Hewitt

Hi everyone,

How are you today?

I thought I would let you know what has been about recently....

Do you remember the Love Passage Waders Challenge?
Well it is still going ahead, and we need you!

This is a competition between RSPB reserves to see who can spot the greatest range of passage wader species over the course of a year.  Prizes will be exciting and varied to the best reserves (inland sites v coastal, best visitor…

Hi everyone,

How are you?

How's your day going?

I thought I would tell you some of the lovely wildlife we've seen recently...

Draper hide - teal, shoveler, shelduck, tufted duck, mallard, gadwall, Canada goose, mute swan, little  grebe, coot, moorhen, grey heron, black headed gull, lapwing, snipe, redshank, little ringed plover, green sandpiper, and common sandpiper.

Ashby hide - cettis warbler, black…