Yellow Rattle – The Magnificent “Meadow-Maker”!
Do you want to create your own wildflower meadow or patch - a truly beautiful area buzzing with Bees and a-flutter with Butterflies? Well, this is a must have magical ingredient, for that ultimately stunning creation. Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) is a...
Sand Martin Bank Completed Just In Time!
Sand Martins (Riparia Riparia) are migratory birds and the smallest member of the European hirundine family, which also includes Swallows and House Martins. They come to Ireland all the way from sub-Saharan Africa, to breed from mid-March to September. They...
Wildacres Bee Hotel Info Sheet
Solitary Bee Hotel Info Sheet Congratulations on the purchase of your new Bee Hotel and thank you! You are directly supporting our biodiversity restoration and education work at Wildacres. This Wildacres Bee Hotel was designed and hand-made by our super volunteers...
Gorilla at Wildacres!
It’s exciting to be restoring and creating habitats on land that was intensively managed mono-species pastureland. Some of these habitats are natural ones such as woodland, hedgerow, ponds and meadow, while others are built habitats such as nest and roost boxes. These...
An Exciting New Sighting At Wildacres
We had hoped for a long time now, to attract Ireland's only native Reptile, the Common Lizard Zootoca viviparato, to the restored and created habitats at Wildacres. On Thursday last, whilst passing a log pile in our top Meadow field, we spotted a creature...
New Land Purchased to Restore Biodiversity – Wildacres Doubles in Size!
We were thrilled in February to sign off on the purchase of an additional 16.36 acres of land, only a mere 300metres away from the original Wildacres site. This brings the Wildacres landholding to 34 acres. We have already started working on restoring habitats...
OUR WONDERFUL COMMON FROG
At Wildcares, frogs are a common sight all over the Nature Reserve since we have reinstated and created, so much wetland habitat. Unfortunately, throughout the countrywide the story is mostly very different. Our Common frog is by no means, as its name might...
OUR BEAUTIFUL BIRDS NEED OUR HELP!
Putting Up Nestboxes for the Birds If one of your new year's resolutions is to do for more wildife, here's an idea to help our avian friends which will bring you lots of joy. Gardens, patios, balconies, work surroundings and community spaces, are...
Outstanding Oak!
We cannot speak highly enough of this truly majestic tree. In Ireland we have two native species of Oak - Quercus petrae and Quercus robur . These species can cross-pollinate to produce what could be classed as a third native hybridised cross, Quercus x...
Wasps!…Wicked or Wonderful?
At first glance the answer from many would be the former, 'absolutely wicked', and a real annoyance. Throughout Autumn our common Wasp, Vespa vulgaris can become the aim of our misplaced ire. You know the typical scene, in September or maybe even October during a late...
Knapweed……A Biodiversity Superstar!
Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra, also known as Lesser Knapweed, Black Knapweed or Hardheads. This must be one of our favourite Wildflowers at Wildacres and we have many! Why?…Well there are so many reasons to love this “Purple Prince” of Wildflowers! This...
MAGICAL HONEYSUCKLE
Honeysuckle is a stunning, often underrated native climbing shrub, and one of our favourite plants at Wildacres. It is also known as 'Woodbine' because of its ability to wrap itself around its support such as another tree shrub or a fence, with its old growth...
Deadwood….Creating new life at Wildacres
We have become somewhat obsessed with deadwood at Wildacres. Mind you, we have become obsessed with Ponds, Woodland, Scrub, Wildflower Meadows, our River, Bats, Otters….. Okay focus…Back on track! Since we started transforming Wildacres from 17.5 acres...
PRODUCING HONEY SUSTAINABLY AT WILDACRES
Beekeeping and producing honey are topics that are often fraught with misconceptions. Pollinators and especially bees, deservedly so, have had quite a bit of media attention in recent years. Some relevant and accurate coverage and some not so much. Yes, Bee’s...
A Pocket Full of Promise!
We had been really looking forward to this day for a while. On 23rd February 2024 the wonderful 'Tree-O' from Pocket Forests CLG; Ashe Conrad-Jones, Catherine Cleary, and Amy van den Broek, came to Wildacres to plant a Pocket Forest with us. We planted a mix of...
Spring Kicks Off with Masses of Frogspawn at Wildacres
We have recorded large amounts of frogspawn this Spring, having noted it in 26 of our now, 35 wildlife ponds. This is so heartening to see, a real “Good News” Biodiversity story. When we checked we found masses of fresh frogspawn, a lot of which was well above...
Incredible….Indispensible….Important Ivy!
It is that time of year again when our wonderful native Ivy is in blossom. Not the sort of display of blossom that is going to turn heads or win a Gold at The Chelsea Flower Show. Well, unless the judging panel was made up of a team of Solitary Bees,...
THE EMPORER RULES SUPREME!
What stunning native wildlife we have here in Ireland often just waiting for us to discover it and unlock a world of fascination and beauty. As is the case with our wonderful dragonflies, which can be seen during Summer and into Autumn on freshwater bodies all...
All of a Flutter About Our Beautiful Butterflies!
This is a great time of year to get out and about to enjoy the natural world and see up close, the stunning native wildlife we have here in Ireland. When you take the time to look and listen, the reward in the form of fascinating sights and interactions between...
Your Very Own Mini Nature Reserve….. On Your Doorstep!
Now this is one to get excited about! What if we told you that you could: • Do your bit and make a real difference in helping solve the biodiversity crisis we are in. • Improve your wellbeing physically and mentally. • Get to enjoy hours of fascinating natural...
POND…ERING – WHAT LIES BENEATH?
One of the many reasons to have a wildlife pond is to discover the wonderfully fascinating plants and animals that live around, on and beneath the water’s surface. The daily struggles in and around wildlife ponds of the hunters and the hunted, are every bit as...
OTTERLY FANTASTIC FOOTAGE AT WILDACRES!
We were “Otterly” (Oooo that’s such a bad pun! 😊) thrilled to record this gorgeous Otter on several occasions over the last few weeks at Wildacres. They are such fascinating charismatic creatures. We had previously recorded footage last year, of one on...
At Wildacres We Are For The Birds!….Are you?
Putting Up Nestboxes for the Birds We are well into 2023 and what about a small project to bring you endless hours of joy and help our poor wildlife? It can be all too daunting and even confusing for us all when we see depressing headline after...
Highlights of 2022 at Wildacres
What a year 2022 was! After working hard on the land restoring habitats for the previous four years, we finally opened in March 2022 for private and scheduled, tours and workshops, for individuals, community groups and corporates. The feedback has been...
TIGER SPOTTED AT WILDACRES!
Well, technically it is! Though albeit of the moth variety!! During the summer we deployed our Actinic light moth trap to monitor moth species at Wildacres. We were both thrilled and astounded at the results we achieved. The quantities and variety of moths...
Bats In Our Belfry!
Well, they would be in our Belfry if we had a Belfry! Though we are just as happy to report they are present and flitting around in good numbers on Wildacres Nature Reserve. Even more heartening is the fact we have had confirmed that we have eight of our...
Rare and Elusive Pine Marten recorded on Wildacres Nature Reserve
We were so excited to see this beautiful creature on our Nature Reserve, a sign that after four years of working to make it an optimum space for nature, Wildacres is beginning to become a sanctuary for creatures such as this,. Wildlife that is finding it so...
10,000 Native Trees and Shrubs planted
10,000 NATIVE TREES & SHRUBS PLANTED. We think it is something worth shouting about. We have reached this milestone with the help of our excellent foresters who planted two thirds of the trees and shrubs, and we have planted the balance ourselves. It was...
New Wildlife Pond at Wildacres
WETLANDS. Wetlands have a chequered history in Ireland and are often looked on as poor, or what would be classed as "non productive" or "marginal" land. That is of course from a human perspective, where the land is often viewed from a food production or a...
Woodpeckers breed at Wildacres
We were thrilled to recently spot our only native woodpecker, The Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major. This once native fascinating bird was absent from the Irish countryside for hundreds of years, but recently has recolonized parts of the east coast,...
Social Entrepreneurs Ireland
We are delighted to have been awarded a place on the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland .Ideas Academy 2020. We participated in this innovative course, connecting with other social entrepreneurs and learning from established Social Enterprises that are making significant...
