The extension to our marsh habitat is nearing completion. Great for biodiversity, this work will also increase wildlife viewing opportunities for our visitors. 🙏 to everyone for their words of support during this period. We hope to have the site open again very shortly 😊

1/2 A few days ago, a group of volunteers laid a triple layer of liner in our new pond area, which is now filling with spring water from our well. When full, we will finish off covering the bottom of the pond with sand and gravel..

Reminder that works are continuing at Harpers to extend some of our wetland habitat including more reedbeds and a whole new pond! We will post some shots of our progress later. Thanks to @npws and #aagora and @Corkcoco for funding this work and to the volunteers without whom.....

We were very excited when work started on our freshwater pond yesterday. After much planning and preparation it is finally becoming a reality. We would like to thank everyone visiting the reserve at this time for their understanding while these works are being carried out 😊

Thanks for sharing Mark!

Mark Shorten@sevenheads.bsky.social · 3w ago

Pectoral Sandpiper spent most of the time playing hide and seek in the salacornia but appeared for a few minutes @harpersisland.bsky.social

Pectoral Sandpiper spent most of the time playing hide and seek in the salacornia but appeared for a few minutes @harpersisland.bsky.social

1/2 This week we have been very luck to have not one but two Pectoral Sandpipers taking a well earned rest on our wetlands after being diverted cross the Atlantic while on the migration from high arctic Canada or Alaska to their wintering grounds in South America.

1/3 Funded by @NPWSIreland and @Corkcoco through the County Biodiversity Action Plan, we are very excited and delighted to announce that we are commencing habitat creation works tomorrow (9th Sept), lasting (hopefully!) about two weeks.

Good morning. And just like that, the Autumn is upon us. Our closing time changes from 9pm to 8pm from this evening. Opening hours for September are 7am-8pm.

1/3 at the beginning of last week we were hopeful that our Sand Martins in Burrows 19 and 21 would finally succeed in raising families before heading to Africa in a few weeks time. Unfortunately both nests were abandoned with no obvious reason why.

It's all systems go in no 21. Two chicks hatched yesterday. They are so small you can only just about make them out on the camera. Allgoing well, they will be flying in less than 20 days & south of the Sahara desert by October!

1/2 It is hard to keep up with all the action on the reserve these days. Remember the Sand Martins? Well, after all their early problems we are happy to report some very good news. In Burrow 19 we have three healthy chicks and in Burrow 21 we have four eggs being incubated.

The freshwater habitats we created along the nature trail have been a huge success. A number of dragonfly species can be seen there including these Emperor Dragonflies, our largest species with a wingspan up to 10cm! 👇you can see the blue male and the greener female laying her eggs.

Our fantastic new mural is nearly finished. Here is a 30 second time lapse video of the two hours it took artist Peter Martin to paint a beautiful lapwing on the wall.

The curlew (an crotach) is long associated with Irish folklore and has even featured on a postage stamp in 2002. Like many of my shots, this one is from Harper's Island, Cork. #BirdOfTheDay #Triplets #curlew #birds #nature #photography #ECK #☘️ @harpersisland.bsky.social

A flock of black headed gulls filling the pixture at Harper's Island, Cork. #BirdOfTheDay #ScreenFiller #birds #gulls #nature #photography #ECK @harpersisland.bsky.social

Common Sandpipers at Harper's Island Wetlands, Cork @harpersisland.bsky.social #Birds #BirdsSeenIn2026

As you walk across the bridge at low tide you can't help but notice that Harper's Island is surrounded by mudflats. We have just added new info board to explain just how valuable mud is and how our birds have adapted to feeding on it. 🙏 to Jim Wilson for his work on this project

1/2 There's lots of activity at our Sand Martin nesting banks right now, with everything from birds preparing to lay eggs, chicks being fed at the burrow entrances to fledglings taking their first flights to be seen.

A heron with its prize after patiently waiting in the waters of Harpers Island, Cork. #heron #eel #birds #nature #photography #ECK #catchoftheday #☘️ @harpersisland.bsky.social

The horses, our lean green wetland mowing machines, are well looked after. Apart from our volunteers keeping an eye on them almost every day, they get a pedicure every six weeks or so. Yesterday morning, our master farrier was on hand to do just that and the horses seemed very happy to have it done.

Recent visitors to the reserve will have noticed the rapid progress of the work by artist Peter Martin on our new mural as you enter the site. Peter hopes to have it finished in the next few weeks. We managed to film and interview Peter recently about the mural and the process involved 👇

Thanks to @Corkcoco & a grant from Creative Ireland, artist Peter Martin has started work on a mural which will cover our entrance walls. Peter won the open competition with his beautiful design depicting the four seasons on the reserve. We can't wait to see the finished work!

We held our first BioBlitz on 21/22 May, the aim of which was to try to identify as many species in a 24 hour period as we could. The weather was not kind but you will be surprised to find out the number of species we did manage to identify. 🙏 to all those who made it possible!

The Little Gull at Harper's Island Wetlands, Cork today - a scarce passage migrant to these parts. #Birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 @harpersisland.bsky.social

To celebrate #nationalbiodiversityweek Week, and as part of our 24 hour BioBlitz, we have organised a Bat Walk for Thurs evening 21st and a Guide in the Hide session for Fri 22nd. Booking is essential for the Bat Walk, details👇C'mon down. We would love to see you ☺️

Help Needed!! We are looking for ecologists and other wildlife specialists to help us out with our first ever BioBlitz which runs from Thurs 21-Friday 22nd May. For more info, see here 👇

Pleased to see that my pollinator sign has now been installed at Roches Point. It provides information about the impressive diversity of bees and other pollinators that occur here, and the habitats that they depend on. Text and photos by me, with layout design by Jim Wilson

A pair of Common Tern has recently been seen displaying on our newly created island in the Borrow Dyke. Cork Harbour supports an important breeding population of this species, & it looks like we may have given them one more breeding location option 😊 #builditandtheywillcome