Hello All

The work clearing the scrub on the lagoon banks is going really well. We have had a 360 digger with flayel attachment working on the banks from the Ashby hide down to just before the turnstile, since Tuesday.  Today however this machine has moved to an area off the visitor trails so we are able to open up the paths today, however there is still no access to the Tern and Gadwall as our volunteer work party are…

Messy Welly Club - RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch!

Wednesday 20 January

10.30 am - 11.30 am

Price: Members £3.50 Non members £4.50 Under 12 months free

Booking essential

Time for messy outdoor play! This session is all about getting outside into nature and exploring the things we find. It runs the third Wednesday of each month during term time, and is aimed at under 5’s with a parent or guardian. We…

Hello All

Well first to say that the Tern and Gadwall hides are now open again. But also to inform you of some more closures. There will be no access beyond the Ashby Hide from Tuesday 19 January 2016.  This is to allow contractors access to the track in order to cut scrub (predominantly bramble) on the banks of the lagoon. For your safety it is vital that you and the machinery do not come in to contact, so we will be…

Hi all

Just a very quick one to let you know that the Tern and Gadwall hides have had to be shut due to repairs work on fencing that blew down earlier in the year. We will put a note up once it is complete, but for now there will be no access to them.

Many thanks for your understanding and cooperation.

Regards, The RM team

Happy New Year all from the whole team at Rye Meads!

To kick 2016 off in the manner we mean to go on, we are carrying out some vital conservation management work here this week. Trees are being removed and cut back around the Gadwall lagoon in order to protect and preserve our wonderful wetland habitat. This will however mean that there could be some disturbance to wildlife around this area, as well as no access to the…

We have a vacancy at Rye Meads

Learning Officer 

We are looking for an experienced person to manage and deliver RSPB programmes to connect school children and young people with nature. This will be achieved through curriculum-linked education programmes to early years, primary schools, secondary and tertiary students at Rye Meads reserve near Hoddesdon. The successful candidate will manage staff and learning volunteers…

Hi all

We have quite a few gold crest on site this autumn/winter with 4 being seen together around the visitor center. A  couple of visitors also managed to catch a fire crest near the Draper hide last week, a real treat. 

Fire crest image by Peter Spanton sighted near the Draper hide

It is starting to feel a bit more like winter now as the mild weather has given way to a few cold days and some pretty windy days!  

…

Good afternoon

The wind has calmed down a bit now so we will open up for the last couple of hours of daylight.

Thanks

Vicky

Morning All

Due to strong winds Rye Meads is currently closed. We will assess the weather conditions through out the day and let you know when we will re open

Sorry for any inconvenience

thanks

vicky

Hello All

I went out on to the reserve this morning to check out the damage caused  by the storm a few days ago, we had  a few minor branches down but more importantly the fence leading up to the gadwall hide was blown over, another job to add to the list.  So i headed out armed with some apples to feed the water voles and seed for the birds but only got  2 steps outside the visitor center and spotted a familiar looking…

Hello All

Despite being very foggy this morning it was well worth a look round the reserve today.  There are lots of fallen leaves to kick through, the trees are still looking stunning in there autumn colors, fungi are popping up and cobwebs were sparkling like tiaras with their dew jewels.

Bracket fungi

Spindle

Sightings list 2 November 2015

Mute swan 14, wigeon 8, gadwall 319, teal 107, sh…

It often seems with Autumn that we're so busy wishing summer wasn't over, and feeling down about impending winter, that we forget to appreciate the beauty of this wonderful season. Well this year it's been different! We've had so many beautiful bright and crisp days with glorious blue skies and warm sun, that we've forgotten to feel sad about the end of the summer months. There seems to be endless different colours of…

Hi All

We have been exceptionally lucky today to have this stunning and very obliging Jack Snipe putting on a display at the Ashby Hide.    It arrived yesterday and we all have our fingers crossed that he will hang around for a few days and more of you will get to see the classic bobbing!

Thanks to Alan Reynolds for letting us use his stunning photo.

Other sightings today include, peregrine, common snipe, sparrow…

Are you looking for something to do over half term??? We have plenty going on.. fun, affordable and outdoors, and lots of chances to get close to nature! Please share with friends and family and come along and join in!

SATURDAY 24 OCTOBER - SMALL MAMMAL SURVEYING

Come along and meet some of the tinier creatures on the reserve that you might not usually see. Surveying traps will be set up the night before and come…

Hello All

Well finally our third brood of kingfishers have fledged! In a year of trials and tribulations this pair have certainly kept us guessing and this third brood was no different.  Fledging was due on Tuesday 22 September, but with the male absent for the last 2 weeks (either predated or died of natural courses, we are not sure) the female was left to feed the young on her own.  This along with a spell of lots of…

Hello All

After a successful and productive summer of moth trapping using MV (Mercury Vapour) Robinson light trap  i decided to try out some new moth recording techniques to support National moth night.

National moth night is organised by Atropos and Butterfly Conservation. It runs annually over a 3 day period Thursday to Saturday with monitoring encouraged on one or all of the 3 days. Each year dates vary to look at…

Hello

For those of you who noticed a female tufted duck on site a few months ago, with an green/blue bit of plastic over its beak with some lettering on. This turned out to be a nasal saddle, a version of ringing, that makes it much easier to identify a bird, when the more usual leg ring is underwater most of the time.  Below we have the report  of when and where the nasal saddle was attached.  So this Tufted duck has visited…

Thought I'd take a minute to share with you all the results of this morning's ringing event run by the Rye Meads Ringing Group. They and the group went out at 8 am today to look for autumn warblers, and were rewarded with a nice collection (not all warblers!) including Sedge warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus), Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), Whitethroat (Sylvia communis), Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita),

…

A recent sighting at Rye Meads was 50 intrepid campers who spent a night on the reserve to experience night-time nature and get into the wild and back to basics!

The evening started with crafting in the classrooms as we all decorated our own lanterns to hang up outside our tents, it was lovely to see them all lit and glowing as darkness fell!

Photo credits: Nick Spellman

Next the BBQ was lit and everyone enjoyed…

Hello

Just a bit of a heads up for you.

If you are planning to visit us on Friday 14 August please be aware that we will have no electricity that day while work is carried out on the line that feeds us. Unfortunately this will mean the CCTV and hot drinks machine in reception will be out of order and the cold drinks may get a bit warm, the lights in toilets and visitor center will not be working.   No electricity will…

As promised, here's the latest on our resident kingfishers and their breeding endeavours this year!

On Wednesday 29th July (a week ago tomorrow) a second nest of kingfishers were seen leaving their hole in the bank first thing! Three individuals were counted in total and that could've been it.. or there may have been others that fledged before 9 am when the reserve was shut. Kingfisher fledglings here often choose…

Hello All

Our second brood of kingfishers have fledged this morning, hurrah.

We had calculated fledging should be today but with the antics of the pair this year (all our other dates have been out)  it was a case of wait and see.  But we have received a report from the hide that 2 were seen fledging and behavior suggests that the burrow is now empty so it is likely the others fledged earlier this morning.

The pair have…

Hello All

With the summer holidays already upon us we thought we would tell you about all the fun activities and events we have going on over the 6 weeks of holidays.

Starting with WILD WEDNESDAYS! 9.30 am  -  3.30pm. Join our summer club each week over the summer holiday to go wild and learn about nature. Have fun, get outdoors and make new friends! Activities will include exploring the reserve, pond dipping, minibeasting…

Hello All

We have a couple of notices for you re road closures in the area which may affect your access to the reserve.

Firstly due to road works Rye Road will be closed in the vicinity of the bridges over the River Lee and train line on Sunday 19 June for the day. This means there will be no access from the Hoddesdon end of Rye Road.  However access from the Roydon/Stanstead Abbotts end of Rye Road is still clear, although…

Apologies for not keeping you up to date with all the latest goings-on recently, but we have been really busy with all sorts of things including management work, new signage, plans for the summer holidays and entertaining several school groups a day! Unfortunately blogging tends to slip down the list of priorities so I intend to give you a brief and concise rundown of all the interesting things that have gone on here…