Wet and Wild!! Rainham Marshes
Recommendation added: 12/04/2006 15:46
By: sweety (YSUK rating +147)sweety has been thanked 3 times for this contribution
"There are only a few ancient landscapes left in London and this RSPB reserve at Rainham Essex is one of them. This Nature Reserve was going to be developed into a Amusement park such as Disney Land, although after careful consideration they decided that the wildlife and natural habitat was more important than another Commercial Attraction.
The reserve is full of a variety of birds, including breeding birds and a number of wildfowl, wading birds, finches and birds of prey, there is also a wide range of wetland plants. Also there are insects that are nationally rare or scarce at the reserve, and water voles are very uncommon elsewhere in the UK, although they are found in abundance at the reserve.
My daughter visited this reserve on a school educational trip, please note at present the Rainham Marshes are not open to the public unless you attend a planned event or are visiting as a Educational trip. If you would like to attend one of the up and coming events it is advisable to telephone in advance to guarantee a place, as they are very popular. Telephone number is 01708 892900.
When arriving you all meet up outside the Visitors Centre, which looks like a big hut according to my daughter. You are escorted around the Reserve by a Guide, who informs you about the local area and an outline on the delicate balance of the Eco System. Also all the benefits that the Reserve creates, including the disadvantages of losing this conservation area.
Once this part is over you then follow a long and winding path around the reserve which is where you can see many of the wildlife within their natural habitat and also the guide explains all about the variety of birds and also what they eat as their diet. This also includes a talk on which birds are native to the marshes and which birds you would see around at different times of the year. Some of the interesting birds you may see include Ringed Plover, Peregrine and a lapwing which are only found in marshland, my daughter was lucky enough to see a Lapwing and a Peregrine on her visit.
The children were taught about conservation and how not to be destructive to the environment, one that my daughter took on board was recycling and how important it to conserve our natural resources.
One of the activities on the excursion was a 'Bug Hunt' this entailed using a net to drag through the long grass, then check the net to see which insects had been caught. They were given a list of possible insects that they may find and had to identify them against the ones they caught. Some of the insects included Beetles, Grasshoppers, Ladybirds and snails.
Pond dipping was one of the more messier activities which my daughter took part in and was very surprised to catch not only Tadpoles, Leeches, Water Snails but also small fish known as Stickleback.
Another activity was identifying leaves from plants and also finding out how many plants used there natural defences such as stingers to survive in the wild.
The conclusion of this trip our guide explained back at the Visitor Centre about the discovery of new species of animals, insect, birds and plants that had been found at Rainham Marshes over many years. She also explained what this meant for the Reservation as a whole. This was also the opportunity for the children to do a Question and Answer session for anything they wanted explained or any queries that they had about the trip.
Ideal clothing for this outing would be warm old clothes preferably trousers and Wellington boots as it is a Marshland and is very wet and muddy. You can bring your own pack lunch although there is a facilities where you can get Hot drinks, Cold drinks and Snacks.
When this is finally open in the summer this will be a great educational day oput for you and your family, there are a list of events and information regarding the Reservation on their website:-
http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/r/rainhammarshes /index.asp
Nearest town: Aveley, South Ockendon
County: Essex
Tel: 01708 892900
E-mail: rainham.marshes@rspb.org.uk"
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