Nature Notes 3 August 2021

Nature Notes 3 August 2021

Balloo Woodland July 24th

Observations from staff, volunteers and members on our Nature Reserves this week.

Nature reserves may look completely wild, but our 19 reserves across Northern Ireland are actually carefully managed by a dedicated team. We protect, restore and create a mix of habitats where wildlife can thrive.

Balloo & Slievenacloy guided walks

We are delighted to show our nature reserves to our members again, this time face-to-face. We walked around Slievenacloy looking for lizards and other amazing wildlife on site. Ryan Bradley, Nature Reserves Officer, hosted another members' Only guided walk at Balloo Woodland last week. Thanks to everyone for joining, no matter the weather! 

We will have more member events on our nature reserves over the coming months - stay tuned to our What's On page and we will update supporters via email too ~ Ronald Surgenor, Nature Reserves Officer

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Slievenacloy Nature Reserve

Got my target species at Slievenacloy Nature Reserve last night - the red carpet moth. I had 7 in one single trap and 10 individuals across four traps. This is encouraging, as I only ever had them in the one place before ~ Andy Crory, Nature Reserves Manager and Moth Recorder for NI

Red Carpet (c) Andy Crory

Red Carpet (c) Andy Crory

Events at Bog Meadows

It was another fun-filled day at the Bog Meadows summer scheme with arts and crafts, archery and games, a visit to Falls Park, making insect hotels, learning about pollinators, and also finding out about the impacts of littering followed by a clean up of Bog Meadows. Then to top it all off, we had a pizza-making workshop.

Visit Bog Meadows Facebook page for further events on the reserve! ~Deborah McLaughlin, Bog Meadows Community Engagement Officer