December Walk

The December Outing of the Irish Wildlife Trust Waterford takes place on Sunday December 12th starting at 2 pm sharp. The walk is along the interesting and biologically rich and diverse Anne Valley starting at Annestown car park. The walk is gentle and will be of about 2 hours. The route will take us along the Anne River past Dunhill Castle, the stronghold of the mediaeval Power family. This is a family friendly outing. The walk will be led by Reggie and Hilary Killops. Let us know if you need transport to and from the walk as there will be a small amount of car pooling available. Directions for Annestown car park: From Dunhill take the Annestown Road. The car park is at the eastern end of Annestown Beach or from Tramore follow the Dungarvan coast road through Fenor and on to Annestown. Enquiries: Ray at 051-382629. All welcome.

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Irish Wildlife Trust November Walk

The November Walk of the Irish Wildlife Trust ( Waterford) went to the interesting Carrigavantry Lake area on Sunday November 14th. The walk included a section along the lake front, through some forestry, and open farm land. Carrigavantry is a reservoir so part of the focus of the walk was the water supply. There is a passage grave en route. Alan Walsh of the Copper Coast Geo Park lead the walk.

Information on the reservoir can be found on the Flyfishing website. The new wheelyboat gives additional access to the lake.

Hydronet from the EPA gives some idea of the seasonal fluctuation of water levels.

Cliff walk report part 2

Our final destination: Portally Cove...any chance of continuing this fine walk on to Ballymacaw and even Rathmoylan?

once again the steps are a little demandiing for the less agile!

Fine coastal features at the mouth of Portally

and a Geo which has a small protective fence around it to prevent the less wary slipping in

Dunmore Cliff Walk Report part 1

Looking back over the Flatrocks to the Lighthouse and on up the Suir Estuary.

Well done to Ray McGrath and the Dunmore East Tourism and Commerce Group for their fine booklet entitled: Guide to 7 walks in Dunmore East and surrounding area. For more information on the annual Walking Festival check here.

The new steps may be a bit steep for some but maybe improved

The addition of a seat with views over to the Hook and a small bridge over a marshy area

Should development be allowed on such a superb coastline?

Walk on 14th November

Ballyscanlon Lake will be the venue on November 14th. The wildlife will not be as active as when Don Conroy visited in July. Listen to his podcast on WLR..click here.

Looped Walks and Trails

This Sunday is National Trails Day...click here for full details.

Rathgormack Hiking Centre	Lough Mohra Loop	Rathgormack
Rathgormack Hiking Centre	Exploring The Gap nature and landscape	Nire Valley to Rathgormack
Kilmacthomas Walking Club	Crohaun Walk	Mar Mar Rd near Lemybrien
The Comeragh Mountaineering Club	The Comeragh Mountaineering Club Open Day	Coumshingaun Corrie Lake in the Comeragh Mts

Worth checking out the Discover Ireland website for the section on Looped Walks. Click here.
You can download trail maps.

September/October walks

Hi everyone,

What a great summer this was for us humans as well as the plants, butterflies and bats (less so for the 5-in-a-row hurlers perhaps, but we can't all be happy!).

Here are a few outings in the wild - or close to it - for the autumn season that might interest you.

Saturday, Sept 18th; IWT National AGM in Cork (members only) . 11am - 1 pm / Forest Walk after lunch)

Sunday Sept. 26th: 2pm Tramore : Seaweed workshop. Free event, no need to book.2pm.... a free Seaweed Workshop hosted by Marie Power, Regional Chairperson of the Irish Wildlife Trust, Field Ecologist Grace O’Sullivan and Hilary Killops on the front deck at Oceanics Surf School & Marine Education Centre. The Seaweed workshop will focus on the health benefits of seaweed and its uses, from tasting to cooking with it, and the identification of seaweed will be included. (anyone got a more recent picture...this one from 2004)
Check the archive on this blog for uses of seaweed.

Saturday October 2nd: 2-4.30pm: Mushroom Hunt in Lismore. More details and booking arrangements on the IWT website

Sunday October 24th: Seaweed Wokshop, Clonea Strand, Dungarvan. Booking neccessary. Details on the local website, part of the Return to the Deise weekend.

Everyone is welcome to IWT outings and feel free to pass this on to anyone you think would like to join an informal walk / talk in nature and some sharing of knowledge about plants, animals, birds, habitats etc. We would love to hear your suggestions / proposals for walks, events, practical conservation work in Waterford and the South East.

Heritage week walk

Celebrate Heritage Week with the Waterford Branch of the Irish Wildlife Trust on Sunday August 29th at Tramore Backstrand and Sand-dunes.

There will be a walk to the dunes observing and identifying bird and plant life as you go with walk leader, Denis Cullen.The walk starts at 2 pm from carpark beyond public toilets and lasts approx 1.5 hours., As this is part of IWT's nationwide Wildwatch Walks, you will receive an identification sheet, which you can complete on the walk and which will be entered into a draw for a prize (for most species identified). This adds to interest, especially for children. There is no need to book, just wear appropriate clothing and if you can, car pool, or travel by bicycle on foot, or by public transport. Binoculars would be helpful, and a pen for completing the Wildwatch form.

Contact Marie for more information: 0868124275

Other events coming up.......If you are interested in the heritage of the Comeragh Mountains; Waterford County Council are running an 8 week course in Rathgormack, starting on Sept 15th, covering flora, fauna, geology, archaeology, genealogy and discussion on developing tourism potential of the Comeraghs.

Contact Bernadette Guest for more more details. 058 22000.

Seaweed Workshop

The Waterford Branch will host a Seaweed workshop in Ardmore on Sunday 25th July at 11.30 a.m. The meeting place is Halla Deaglan on the main street in Ardmore.

The workshop will consider the uses and benefits of seaweeds, types of edible seaweeds on our shores and how to use them in cookery. This will be followed by a trip to the beach to identify the seaweeds and harvest them is a sustainable way.

The event is free and should conclude about 1.30.

There are a range of other activities such as whale and dolphin watching, and bird watching taking place as part of the Ardmore Pattern Festival (download programme in pdf format)

Fish week starts 20th June

To celebrate Fish Week 2010, IWT are joining forces with the communities of Cheekpoint and Passage East for an afternoon's activities, including a walk, exhibition and screening of the controversial film on fish stocks "The End of the Line".As part of the IWT’s campaign to ensure a reformed Common Fisheries Policy that will result in a sustainable future for the marine environment and coastal communities I am encouraging you to please put your name to this petition. This is being coordinated across Europe by OCEAN2012, the alliance of eNGOs of which the IWT is a member. Please also pass it on to your own email lists and others you may think would be interested.

http://www.ocean2012.eu/petition

New Nature Reserve for IWT

18th Feb, 2010.

The IWT is delighted to announce the latest addition to our collection of nature reserves around Ireland. Newcastle lake is situated in north county Meath and is an important site for the county's biodiversity. It is home to Kingfishers, Otters, Cormorants and Ravens. In winter Atlantic salmon pass through it to spawn in the river Dee while wildfowl, including Whooper swans, roost on its calm surface. In summer the air buzzes with dragonflies and swooping Daubenton's bats. This fantastic reserve brings to five the total under IWT management.

The IWT has a network of reserves around the county that it aspires to expand in the future in order to protect more and more of Ireland’s wildlife and their habitats. Our other reserves are wet grassland sites in Macroom Co. Cork, and in the Shannon Callows a unique area flooded annually by the river Shannon and important for many bird species such as Lapwing and Corncrake. The IWT also owns a bogland reserve at Boora Bog Co. Offaly and manages a reserve within Co. Dublin along the banks of the river Tolka at Ashtown.

The Newcastle Lake reserve is privately owned and is not accessible to the public. However there will be guided tours later in the year for those who would like to visit and these will be open to all IWT members. IWT membership subscriptions partly go towards managing these reserves for the benefit of wildlife so every new member counts! Go to www.iwt.ie to become a member today.
ENDS

Contact:

For further information please contact Kieran Flood IWT Reserves Officer

Ph: 01 860 2839 or E-mail

Whither Goff's Wood?

The remnants of the old house.



Clearance at the back of Snowcream











Sign trying to prevent access along right of way






Where the bridge used to (originally built when Queen Victoria was planning to visit)








Fence blocking right of way...except for hole!









The original ornamental garden pond.















The waterfall.







Some of the larger trees (TPO's?)










One of the 2 swathes cut through down to the river for the planned marina?






Warning sign on the right of way.






Some older trees left at the front of Snowcream...but where is the sound barrier gone?






Clearance at the front of Snowcream






Step 1: build a wall so nobody can see what you are doing...widening the road was the excuse.

Launch of International Year of Biodiversity

The National Biodiversity Data Centre have relaunched their website.

Some of the main features of the website include:

* Easy access to 1.07 million observations of Ireland’s wildlife,
* Provisional distribution maps of 8,545 Irish species, presented on a national GIS mapping system Biodiversity Maps
* An online submission form to enable observers submit sightings of Ireland’s wildlife to the National Biodiversity Database;
* An internet data portal linking the Data Centre with the other key national sighting schemes,
* A latest news feature to highlight any new developments in wildlife recording and surveying in Ireland,
* The Centre’s calendar of Events for 2010,
* An on-line library of digital images of some of Ireland’s species freely available to download for use in publications, presentations and other uses.

Lismore Callows walk

The next outing will be to the Lismore Callows on Sunday February 21st. Meet at Woodies carpark at 1245pm or go direct to The Towers on the road to Ballyduff, c5km from Lismore, at 2pm to view the waterbirds, followed by a walk to through the woods to see the towers. The walk leader will be Denis Cullen.

Blackwater Callows

Grid reference: X0199 west to W9299.

Ordnance Survey Discovery map: number 81

Habitat: Flooded pasture-fields (callows) along R. Blackwater; extensive woodlands.

Main interest: Wintering wildfowl and waders.