Wildlife Walk at Rainham Marshes

Join our fabulous team for a wonderful walk at Rainham Marshes, as we take you on a wonderful wildlife walk around the marshes. Every season sees a different suite of wildlife for you to encounter!

Rainham Marshes is an important area for wildlife, and a great place for visitors all year round - you can expect to see breeding wading birds and a variety of invertebrates in spring and summer. Also look out for lapwings, redshanks, wheatears, stonechats, kingfishers, hobbies, curlews, swifts, sand martins, house martins, warblers, marsh harriers, reed buntings, water voles, damselflies, butterflies, bees (such as the shrill carder bee and the brown-banded carder bee) and grass snakes.

In winter, you can see large flocks of wildfowl. Keep an eye out for marsh harriers, golden plovers, water and rock pipits, little egrets, snipe, chiffchaffs, curlews, lapwings, dunlins, redshanks, shelducks, peregrines, kingfishers, short-eared owls, stoats and weasels.

Our friendly guides will take you for a stroll around the reserve to see the highlights of the season's wildlife. Best of all, we can tailor it to suit YOU! A particular species you want to see, not keen on walking a long distance, or if you would like to know about the history of the reserve - just let us know.

You don't need to book in advance - you can just come along and pay on the day.

Adult £5 (£4 members). Please bring your membership cards with you. Normal reserve entrance fees apply for non-members.

Dates:

January 2022: Friday 21 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 23 1-3pm

February 2022: Friday 18 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 20 1-3pm

March 2022: Friday 18 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 20 1-3pm

April 2022: Friday 22 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 24 1-3pm

May 2022: Friday 20 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 22 1-3pm

June 2022: Friday 17 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 19 1-3pm

July 2022: Friday 22 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 24 1-3pm

August 2022: Friday 19 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 21 1-3pm

September 2022: Friday 16 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 18 1-3pm

October 2022: Friday 21 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 23 1-3pm

November 2022: Friday 18 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 20 1-3pm

December 2022: Friday 16 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 18 1-3pm

January 2023: Friday 20 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 22 1-3pm

February 2023: Friday 17 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 19 1-3pm

March 2023: Friday 17 10 am-12 noon, Sunday 19 1-3pm

Binoculars available for hire. Please ensure you arrive at least 10 minutes prior to the event start time.

Wear weather appropriate clothing, and meet us at the reception desk in the visitor centre.

Our walks are usually 2 hours long, but if we see lots it could take us longer to get back to the centre - do let your guide know how long you want to be out exploring.

Rainham Marshes is in Purfleet - which is just a few minutes walk from Purfleet station, or just off the A13 and M25 J30/31.

We have a cafe, shop, visitor centre, toilets, an adventure playground, four hides, and good hard paths around the reserve. The main visitor trail is a circular route of 2.4 miles.