SS15 wildlife watching: Trip away from SS15 - RSPB Rye Meads, Hertfordshire

RSPB Rye Meads in Hertfordshire is a site that is relatively easy for me to visit by public transport: bus to Billericay, train to London Liverpool Street followed by another train to Rye House and then a short walk to the reserve entrance.

My visit today was my third of the year after previous visits on 6th February 2023 and 24th March 2023.

Rye Meads is a 58.5 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) located in Rye House near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire. It is one of series of wetlands and reservoirs situated along the River Lea to the north east of London. It is part of the Lea Valley RAMSAR site (a group of internationally important wetland sites) and a Special Protection Area (SPA).

Rye Meads is divided into several areas. North of Rye Road is the Rye Meads nature reserve: the western half of this nature reserve, next to the River Lea in the Lee Valley Regional Park, is managed by the RSPB and the eastern half is managed by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. It also includes a meadow and lagoons owned by Thames Water south of Rye Road which is not open to the public.

I visited the RSPB Rye Meads reserve which includes a visitor centre, trails and a number of hides. The seasonal flooding of a large ancient flood meadow combined with the rich soils has resulted in a mosaic of habitats, consisting of reedbeds, marshy grasslands and fen vegetation plus a number of small lakes and a scrape.

As I walked down to the reserve from Rye House railway station, I heard a singing male Chiffchaff.

The main focus of my visit today was not to see and photograph Kingfishers as is usually the case (in fact I didn’t see any) but to photograph the Water Voles which have been showing very well, as amply demonstrated by all the photos on Facebook - Friends of RSPB Rye Meads.

After checking in at the visitor centre on arriving, I immediately made my way to the second pond dipping area where the Water Voles were being reported from.

I spent over an hour here and, along with a few other people, the only sign of any Water Voles was the occasional movement in the pond vegetation. However, the "watch and wait" session did provide sightings of at least 2 Migrant Hawkers, at least 2 Willow Emerald Damselflies, a single Red Admiral plus a single male Blackcap and a single Chiffchaff both foraging in the adjacent bushes and a fly-over Red Kite.

Photo: Migrant Hawker

Photo: Willow Emerald Damselfly

Photo: male Blackcap

I eventually gave up on Water Voles and went off to the nearby Draper Hide for some birding before returning to the second pond dipping area with just over an hour remaining before the reserve closed. This time I was successful in both seeing and photographing one of the Water Voles although there may have been 2 animals present.

Photo: Water Vole

With regard to birds, unfortunately the Glossy Ibis present over the previous weekend had evidently moved on given that it was not reported all day.

This was disappointing but, in addition to the Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Red Kite noted above, other highlights included the following, the majority from the Draper Hide (heard only records in italics): Green Sandpiper (5), Common Snipe (1), Little Egret (1), Grey Heron (3), Little Grebe (4), Moorhen (2), Shoveler (6), Teal (4), Gadwall (2), Tufted Duck (1), Mallard (10), Cormorant (2), Mute Swan (1), Egyptian Goose (2), Canada Goose (c.20), Greylag Goose (c.50), Red Kite (another distant bird seen from the Draper Hide), Sparrowhawk (1), Chiffchaff (1 singing male), Cetti’s Warbler (at least 5 singing males), Grey Wagtail (1), Great Spotted Woodpecker (1 heard calling), Stock Dove (1)