nature reserves derry

The Strand on the west shore of Lough Beg is a large expanse of wet grassland that is flooded each winter and which has never been agriculturally improved. The nature reserve, with Church Island as its focal point, comprises 300 acres of this habitat. In spring and autumn, migrating birds on their way through may pause on their journey to rest and feed. Black-tailed godwit, green sand piper, wood sandpiper, greenshank and knot are seen every year. In early summer the sky above the nature re...

The Roe Valley Country Park is the ideal place to begin exploring the north-west area and its nature reserves. Set amidst the wooded banks of the river Roe where it winds its way down to the sea, the Park is rich in wildlife. In springtime the wood-land floor is covered with a colourful carpet of wild flowers. The autumn is an equally stunning time. Foxes, otters, badgers and many woodland birds abound. The area is rich in legends concerning the O'Cahans, who ruled the Roe Valley for centur...

This reserve holds some of the last fragments of what were once extensive woods covering much of the north west. The steep sides of the glens are clothed by mature trees, mostly oak and ash, with an under storey of rowan, hazel, hawthorn and holly. Ferns and mosses thrive in damp shady nooks along the river banks. Drifts of primroses, bluebells, wood sorrel and wood anemone brighten and woodland floor in spring. In early summer the woods are filled with the sound of birdsong while on warm da...

From a distance the mud flats of the Roe Estuary exposed at low tide appear dull and lifeless - but underneath they hide a secret. Concealed by the mud are vast numbers of small seashore animals such as lug worms, shrimps, rag worms and periwinkles. There are also large beds of mussels and extensive areas covered in a plant known as eel-grass. All these are the food sources that act as a magnet for many of the thousands of migrating waders, ducks, swans and geese that stop over in the Foyle e...

This reserve contains some dune slack communities uncommon in Northern Ireland. There is one particular moss (Rhytidium regosom) which flourishes in these dunes that has not been found anywhere else in Ireland. Low lying dune slacks periodically flooded in winter has a rich and varied range of summer flowering plants, including large numbers of the otherwise rare Marsh Helleborine. Management activities include grazing and scrub cutting. Around Ballymaclary the shoreline is currently eroding,...

One of the finest ornithological sites in the British Isles with 171 species of birds. Lough Beg is shallower than Lough Neagh which makes it favourable for the dabbling duck, mallard, wigeon, teal, snipe, redshank, lapwing and curlew....

Magilligan Point is the tip of one of the largest sand dune systems in the British Isles. The way the coastline constantly changes here is of particular interest and is one of the main reasons the site has been declared a nature reserve. Many metres of sand-dune can disappear in a sudden winter storm in what may appear to be severe erosion. However the cycling of sand around the foreland and out to the Tunns Bank has been going on for centuries. The dunes have advanced and retreated again ma...