RXwildlife Sightings

Exhibition of original paintings and prints by Stephen Message.
10 am to 4 pm daily until 22nd January.

The Events programme for 2011 at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve is now available. Downloadable from HERE or as a leaflet available from Lime Kiln Cottage. The leafet also has a revised map (below) with all the new wetland features of Rye Harbour Farm, or VIEW HERE. Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve will get the events leaflet next week with their Newsletter. Why not JOIN HERE NOW…

Today is National Poetry Day. Click here for poem by John Davidson called In Romney Marsh

From missing links between dinosaurs and birds and the fabrication of whole ornithological expeditions to birds who use deceit, mimicry and imitation, there is no shortage of examples of fraud in the bird world. This will be a fascinating afternoon for anyone interested in either birding or fakery! A Talk by Nik Borrow, Saturday 9 October 2010 at 2pm, Hastings Museum & Art Gallery. Tickets: £3 to include tea & cakes. Free to members of Hastings & St Leonards Museum Association. Available from Museum Reception or telephone 01424 451052

Saturday 14 and Sunday 15, 10 am - 5 pm
Our big day out! Attractions include guided walks, children’s activities, arts and crafts, local wildlife organisations, a binocular and telescope demo and all day BBQ. Free admission for all.

Tim Smith - the assistant county ecologist is running a shoresearch event at Pett Level on Tuesday 13th July (this Tuesday!). This is for all who are interested in marine ecology and who may be able to help identifying and surveying this part of the Sussex shoreline. Meeting at 6pm up on the beach wall from the Smuggler’s car park.

The pair of purple herons that started nesting on the reserve in early May, are believed to have bred successfully, with increased activity around the nest.

We are seeing more frequent changeovers at the nest, one bird returning from a feeding foray at regular intervals, presumably to deliver food to the awaiting chicks. As this bird approaches the nest often with head and chin feathers raised, its partner normally rises from the nest, after a short greeting ceremony that involves much calling from within the reedbed and departs to nearby marshland.

It is the first time ever that the UK has hosted a breeding pair of purple herons and we set up a round-the-clock Species Protection Scheme to give the birds as good a chance of breeding as possible. It seems to have paid off with the pair at Dungeness looking set to be the first to successfully breed in the UK.
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There are many local walks in the new Summer programme of Guided Walks co-ordinated by East Sussex County Council.
Click here for link to more information.

On this website there are links to many local countryside events - click on wildlife events in the column on left…
20th March 2010 - Guided woodland archaeology walk in Brede High Woods @ 10.30am-1pm. Nicola Bannister will guide you through the evidence on the ground which tells the story of Brede High Woods’ rich historical past. TO RESERVE A PLACE - the events are free to attend but book up very quickly. To reserve your place reply to this email or for more information call James Luxton: 0845 2935734 jamesluxton@woodlandtrust.org.uk.

RSPB Dungeness nature reserve
Sunday 28 February, 2 pm - 3 pm. Admission free, booking advisable. 01797 320588.
Artist and illustrator Peter Partington will be giving an entertaining talk on his work and techniques.