The team of volunteer experts at Colebrooke Estate in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland were crowned “All Ireland BioBlitz Champions” for 2013 over the weekend with an impressive closing tally of 1,086 species in 24 hours.

Colebrooke beat Lough Key Forest Park, Co. Rosscommon (959 species); The Burren National Park, Co. Clare (947 species) and Wicklow National Park (908 species) to claim the title. But the real winner, of course, is Ireland’s amazing biodiversity and wildlife.

BioBlitz, now in its fourth year, is an annual “competition” organised by the Waterford-based National Biodiversity Data Centre. As well as providing a flood of vital records for Ireland’s national biodiversity database, the event also aims to raise awareness of the astonishing biodiversity all around us.

This year television coverage brought the event to a wider audience than ever. Presented live from  Glendalough in the stunning Wicklow Mountains as part of the RTÉ Goes Wild season, two shows hosted by RTÉ presenter Derek Mooney, wildlife cameraman Colin Stafford-Johnson and presenter Sinead Kennedy brought BioBlitz to life for viewers at home.

Check out the video below for a taste of what BioBlitz is all about… and if you missed the BioBlitz TV coverage you can catch it now on RTE Player.

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