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Dates for 2016 Discover Wildlife Weekends announced

Lunge feeding minke whale

We’ll be running two more of our popular Discover Wildlife Weekends in 2016 — one in Spring and one in Autumn, based once again at the fabulous Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery, Co. Cork. The dates for your diary are: Spring 2016 Weekend: 13 May – 15 May Autumn 2016….

Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland Events in West Cork

Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland

Saturday Evening Talk at Butlerstown Maria Long of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) will be giving a talk in Butlerstown, West Cork this Saturday evening about the BSBI, what it is, what it does, and why it’s important. It will be a great opportunity to learn about plant….

Sad news as Irish white-tailed eagle chick dies of natural causes

Eagle chick dies of natural causes in Co. Cork

News broke yesterday of a devastating development for the family of white-tailed eagles in Glengarriff, Co. Cork when it was announced that the 10 week old chick had died in the nest of natural causes just days before it was expected to fledge. One of five pairs of white-tailed eagle breeding in….

Humpback whale wows onlookers at Inchydoney

Inchydoney beach, near Clonakilty in West Cork, is one of the undisputed jewels along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. This outstanding blue flag beach draws visitors from far and wide, but earlier this week it was a visitor of a different kind that was getting all the attention. The sandy bottom in….

Irish white-tailed eagles hatch chicks in four counties

White tailed eagle chick mountshannon

The Irish white-tailed eagle reintroduction project has received a much-needed boost with news that five pairs, spanning four Irish counties, now have chicks in the nest. According to a press release issued by the Golden Eagle Trust, of the eight pairs that attempted to breed this year, eagle chicks have now….

Last chance to join us on a weekend wildlife extravaganza in West Cork

Were in the final stages of preparation for our Spring 2015 Discover Wildlife Weeekend which runs from the evening of Friday 08 May to lunchtime on Sunday 10 May 2015 at the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery, Co. Cork. You can still join us Great news! We still have a few spaces available on….

Ireland’s first basking sharks of 2015 spotted off West Cork

Basking Shark Dursey Island, West Cork

The first reported Irish basking shark sighting of 2015 was logged on Monday 09 March. The sharks, one large and one smaller animal, were spotted from shore by observer Bridget Healy, just off the coast near Ardfield in West Cork. Basking sharks, the second largest fish in the sea after the whale shark, are annual spring….

Wildlife Portfolio: William Helps

Pike in Cover by William Helps

In this instalment of our Wildlife Portfolio series we take a look at the work of William Helps, a wildlife artist based in Rosscarbery in Co. Cork. Click on any of the images in the portfolio below to open up a larger version and scroll through the gallery. About William Helps….

Wildlife Portfolio: Phil Pound

In this first in a new series of posts featuring the work of some of Ireland’s best wildlife photographers we look at the winning portfolio of West Cork photographer Phil Pound, who won the prestigious “Best Wildlife Portfolio” and “Best Single Wildlife Image” in the 2104 Irish Professional Photographers Association….

A journey to Antarctica: ten weeks in the freezer

Author and naturalist JimWilson

The West Cork and Cork Branches of BirdWatch Ireland are hosting an illustrated talk by Cork based author and naturalist Jim Wilson on Friday 7th February 2014. The event takes place at the Cork International Airport Hotel, with doors opening at 7pm, and the talk commencing at 8pm sharp. This is the….

Book Review: The Wild Plants of Bere, Dursey, Whiddy and other Islands in Bantry Bay

Wild Plants of Bantry Bay

The islands of West Cork, a region I feel privileged to call home, have a reputation for being excellent locations for wild plants. My life-changing introduction to West Cork was as a volunteer biologist at Sherkin Island Marine Station way back in 1993. I worked on the rocky shore monitoring project….

New wildlife walks get you closer to nature

Guided wildlife and nature walks in West Cork, Ireland

I love wildlife, and I love walking. Best of all I love walking where I can watch wildlife and share what I see with other interested people. It was on one of these wildlife walks on the stunning West Cork coastline (see the photo — no exaggeration) that I had….