RSPB Rye Meads – October 2026
Our walk around Rye Meads carried extra significance as it was our last guided walk around the site ahead of the RSPB’s hand over of the reserve’s management to Thames Water on 2 November.
The day started with a misty drive to the reserve but lifted allowing the sun to shine through by the time we started our walk towards the first hide. We entered Draper hide and were surprised to see such a low water level with large areas of dried mud. At first we could not see any waterbirds but then along the edge we spotted a Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Grey Heron and Canada Goose. A Wren was ticking outside the wall of the hide and a Red Kite and Cormorant flew over. We had been told that an adult kingfisher and juvenile had been seen earlier in the day but we were unlucky and did not see either the adult or juvenile.
Following the path through a leafy tree canopy we picked up Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit and Chiff Chaff. We heard two or three Cetti’s Warblers calling to each other and saw fleeting glances of the birds on both sides of the path, there may have been four separate birds and they put on quite a vocal display. We thought they could have been adults with this year’s youngsters going around as a family group.
Over the little bridge looking to the water on the left hand side we saw Gadwell, Grey Heron, Shoveler, Little Egret and Coot. Starlings and Wood Pigeons were on the power lines and a Jay flew over as we walked to the Gadwell hide where the water was very shallow but filled the basin. Here we had good views of Lapwing, Mute Swan, Gadwell, Mallard, Little Grebe, Green Sandpiper, Snipe, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Coot, Cormorant , Black Headed and Common Gulls and Wigeon. We managed to pick out four Snipe on the little island.
We moved on to the Kingfisher Hub but again were disappointed in not picking up a Kingfisher. We thought we would try Draper hide again and this time our luck was in and everyone had very good views of an adult Kingfisher. We also added Stock Dove and Pied Wagtail to our list and the youngest and very knowledgable member of our group spotted a Buzzard.
Everyone enjoyed the walk and it was great that first timers with us were looking forward to joining us for future outing.