Rainham Marsh RSPB

Just thought I would put this on the map. A few years ago the RSPB bought this land from the MOD who used it primarily as a shooting range. It is a diverse habitat comprising of woodland, marsh, meadow, scrub and of course, estuary.

In the most recent past, the reserve has attracted a strong cast of interesting birds not least, Sociable Plover, Penduline tit, Ring Ouzel, Bearded Tit and Dartford Warbler.

The brand new centre is a super-trendy affair with a good shop and a viewing area with a number of high spec fieldscopes to view out from across the marshes. At the moment though, there is only one hide that looks out across the Averley pools which hold good numbers of wader and wildfowl.

The surreal landscape that consists of neighbours such as Ford Motor Co. and the huge landfill site makes one realise what an important oasis this reserve is and the RSPB certainly have great plans for the future

wild goose