Young and old enjoy Bay Road nature events

PEOPLE were invited to Bay Road Park Nature Reserve in Londonderry on Saturday, February 13, for two exciting events that gave people the chance to get involved in local wildlife.

From 11.00am until 1.30pm, members of the public were asked to join volunteers working to clean up the area and manage the willow woodland.

People were invited to come along to help with coppicing and clearing litter from the shoreline. Lunch was provided and visitors could then stay on to take part in an innovative Winter Waders event at 2pm, to find out more about the range of wading birds that come to the River Foyle each year.

The shore line at Bay Road Park offered visitors an excellent vantage point to view a host of wading birds that travel from the Artic regions each year to take advantage of River Foyle habitats.

The afternoon allowed people to see these wading birds as they feed on the mudflats.

The event also provided the opportunity for people of all ages to learn how to spot the different birds, find out about their lives and about the wildlife habitats of the river.

Craft activities and information stalls were available and visitors could get up close and personal with birds of prey that sometimes feed on the far travelled waders.

Bay Road Park is Derry City Council’s first Local Nature Reserve launched in June 2009. Recent surveys have identified that 26 species of bird breed on the site, with a further 9 species breeding close by.

The woodland and open grassland is attractive as a home to song thrush, reed buntings and linnets, which are all priority species for conservation action in the United Kingdom.

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