13 June – Northiam Naturally! Talks

13 June – Northiam Naturally!

Saturday 13th June 2026 1.30pm – 3pm at the Discovery Centre.

Local Ecologist Brian Banks is collaborating with Northiam Parish Council on a local nature recovery project. A new nature reserve in Northiam has been established with the aim of better managing Ancient Woodland, creating two new ponds and better managing two existing shaded ponds. Funded by the Newt Partnership, there is the hope Great Crested Newts will colonise. Brian will also be enlightening us about Amphibians and Reptiles found locally.

These talks are for members of The Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve only. There is no charge, though donations are gratefully accepted. If you are not a member of The Friends but would like to attend, please JOIN US and let us know.

Limited places are available and booking for members of The Friends will open at 8.00am on 1st May.
Please note that dogs (except for guide dogs that have been pre-booked) are not allowed at talks.

Past Events

Guide in a Hide 25 October 2025

What great Guide in a Hide day we had yesterday, largely in sunshine, and ending with a rainbow!

The fantastic high tide gave us over 50 different species of birds to show our 131 visitors. The 1500 or so Golden Plover were spectacular when whirling around, the Wigeon whistled all day, the Spoonbill showed up, and a Kingfisher gave a few lucky visitors their first ever sighting.

This is our 4th year of running this wonderful and popular event. In that time the team has given 1700 hours of time and had the pleasure of welcoming over 8100 visitors!

We are continually thrilled to see the interest, excitement and amazement in people’s faces at seeing birds close up and learning something about them. In particular, the children, looking, listening and learning give us enormous pleasure and make giving up our time so very rewarding.

Thank you so much for coming along and we hope to see you again next time, Sunday 9th November 10am until 3pm.

giah

24 October – Guide in a Hide

Saturday 24th October 10.00 AM – 3.00 PM

Drop in to the Gooders hide between the car park and the sea where there will be guides stationed throughout the day to show you the birds. Binoculars, telescopes and spotter sheets available for you to use. There will also be guides outside the Discovery Centre.

Suitable for all.

400m walk towards the sea from  Rye Harbour car park, TN31 7TY

No booking necessary.

This event is weather dependent so please check close to the date, before travelling, in case of cancellation.

26 September – Guide in a Hide giah

26 September – Guide in a Hide

Saturday 26th September 10.00 AM – 3.00 PM

Drop in to the Gooders hide between the car park and the sea where there will be guides stationed throughout the day to show you the birds. Binoculars, telescopes and spotter sheets available for you to use. There will also be guides outside the Discovery Centre.

Suitable for all.

400m walk towards the sea from  Rye Harbour car park, TN31 7TY

No booking necessary.

This event is weather dependent so please check close to the date, before travelling, in case of cancellation.

giah

25 July – Guide in a Hide

Saturday 25th July 10.00 AM – 3.00 PM

Drop in to the Gooders hide between the car park and the sea where there will be guides stationed throughout the day to show you the birds. Binoculars, telescopes and spotter sheets available for you to use. There will also be guides outside the Discovery Centre.

Suitable for all.

400m walk towards the sea from  Rye Harbour car park, TN31 7TY

No booking necessary.

This event is weather dependent so please check close to the date, before travelling, in case of cancellation.

giah

20 June – Guide in a Hide

Saturday 20th June 10.00 AM – 3.00 PM

Drop in to the Gooders hide between the car park and the sea where there will be guides stationed throughout the day to show you the birds. Binoculars, telescopes and spotter sheets available for you to use. There will also be guides outside the Discovery Centre.

Suitable for all.

400m walk towards the sea from  Rye Harbour car park, TN31 7TY

No booking necessary.

This event is weather dependent so please check close to the date, before travelling, in case of cancellation.

26 May – Guide in a Hide giah

26 May – Guide in a Hide

Tuesday 26th May 10.00 AM – 3.00 PM

Drop in to the Gooders hide between the car park and the sea where there will be guides stationed throughout the day to show you the birds. Binoculars, telescopes and spotter sheets available for you to use. There will also be guides outside the Discovery Centre.

Suitable for all.

400m walk towards the sea from  Rye Harbour car park, TN31 7TY

No booking necessary.

This event is weather dependent so please check close to the date, before travelling, in case of cancellation.

Past Events

Guide in a Hide 26 April 2025

A warm Guide in a Hide day!
Coats were off at last and it was such a pleasure to welcome visitors to a proper Spring day on the Reserve.
155 people came along, including two youngsters who loved spotting the birds through our telescopes.

With a decent tide bringing in the sea and refreshing the marsh, we could show visitors migrating birds such as Bar-tailed Godwits, Knot and Grey Plover in their fabulous breeding plumage. We heard the beautiful 7-note call of Whimbrel all day, and were delighted to see a Cuckoo and newly arrived Swifts.

Add the fabulous sound of all three Terns and Skylark, flat beach really was a wonderful place to spend a Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came along.

Next one is Sunday 25th May – see you there!

Past Events

Guide in a Hide 29 March 2025

© KT Bruce, Rye News

Weather, birds and visitors!

Glorious sunshine, a partial solar eclipse, a biting wind and an amazing 222 visitors for our Guide in a Hide day today!

It was great to meet you all and show you a total of 34 species of birds including a Rye Harbour Nature Reserve special, the Sandwich Terns – over 80 of them!

A couple of our guides cleverly kept out of the wind and it was great to meet the Marylebone birders too – hope you enjoyed your day.

Past Events

Talk 08 March 2025

Members of the Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve had a fantastic talk on Saturday 8th March by Terry Hallahan, who is one of the leaders of the Sussex Barn Owl Group. The talk ‘Barn Owls and Barn Owls in Sussex’ was in two parts: the first covering interesting facts about the Barn Owl, plus it’s demise and more recent upsurge; the second part covering the activities of the Barn Owl Group who are committed to preservation and protection of Sussex’s Barn Owl population.

Amazingly, Barn Owls are the world’s most widely distributed land bird, and with 35 subspecies, they are found on every continent except Antarctica. Unfortunately, we are at one of their northern extremes and in some years, they struggle in our climate. Unable to hunt in wet weather, they need excellent habitat in which to find plentiful food when it is dry. In addition to the lack of habitat, and nesting sites proving challenging for them, road traffic collisions are a major problem accounting for the deaths of between 3000 and 5000 Barn Owls each year. This equates to about 65% of all reported fatalities.

To counteract the loss of traditional nesting sites, the Barn Owl Group puts up boxes and it is now estimated over 90% of Barn Owls are using boxes. This has helped to increase their numbers over the last few years.

In addition to installing boxes at suitable locations, the Barn Owl Group works with landowners and undertakes considerable monitoring, ringing and conservation activities.

They are always looking for help, donations and sponsorship. For more information see https://www.sos.org.uk/archives/5869 or email info@sussexbarnowlgroup.org