There are hundreds, if not thousands of heath spotted orchids out on Slievenacloy Nature Reserve at moment!

Summer brings a profusion of wildflowers particularly orchids to the nature reserve, with nine species recorded here. In a good year, you might see thousands of common spotted and butterfly orchid, plus rarer varieties like lesser butterfly, small white and frog orchid. ~ Ronald Surgenor, Nature Reserves Officer

There were 16 small eggar larval webs on the survey we did last week at our Umbra Nature Reserve. They were racing around in the sunshine; I could have watched them all day! Small eggar is a scarce species and is only found at two sites in Northern Ireland.  The caterpillars can be found living in communal webs from April to July, on hawthorn and blackthorn, before overwintering as pupae. 

We also found this Lampronia pubicornis micro-moth at the Umbra too - which is quite a rare species. It was first recorded here in 2013 ~ Andy Crory, Nature Reserves Manager

Please report all moth sightings to the Moth Recorder for Northern Ireland, Andrew Crory, andrew.crory@gmail.com or use the Butterfly Conservation Northern Ireland (BCNI) sightings web page at http://www.bcni.org.uk/submitsighting.php. 

Our staff got together at Slievenacloy Nature Reserve for the first time in two years to share our successes and achievements as an organisation!

It was a great day as we visited the reserve, spotted wildlife such as orchids and the common lizard and got involved with the Irish Hedgehog Survey. 

When we were laying down Balloo Wetland meadow a couple of years ago I kept saying that a Kestrel hunting over it would be a real marker for the meadow going in the right direction. What should appear today hovering over the meadow? A great sight! ~ Ryan Bradley, Nature Reserves Officer

Our Ballynahone bog nature reserve is full of fascinating species - from peatland plants such as bog rosemary to wonderful insects and birds. We are sure you can all recognise the distinct sound!😉 

This activity was part of the weekly hen shed that takes place on Thursdays at Bog Meadow Nature Reserve.

We made flower baskets for participants to use at home, learning the tips and tricks to keep them alive and also showing how these flowers help the pollinators thrive! ~ Aaron Kelly, Nature Reserves Assistant

Passionate about wildlife and wild places? Why not volunteer with us to Help Bring Nature back? From helping hedgehogs to assisting our dedicated Nature Reserves Team with our conservation work - check our volunteering opportunities and get involved!