nature reserves fermanagh

The sheltered Castle, Birch and Kellums Bays fringe the predominantly conifer and beech forest at Castlecaldwell. These three bays are managed as a nature reserve and are just a short walk through the woodland from the Exhibition Centre.

The journey through the woodland bypasses the old 17th Century castle which lies in ruins. Birds nest in its ivy clad walls. Nearing the bays, old oak trees form a ghost line along what was exposing new land. This foreshore has been colonised by natural...

As the Sillees River meanders its way towards Lower Lough Erne it passes through Ross Lough, settled in a hollow amongst drumlins. Ross Lough has a swamp and fen shoreline typical of County Fermanagh. The lake lowering after the Sillees drainage scheme has increased its variety of habitats - there is open water, swamp, fen and wet meadow. A small wooded crannog can be reached in abnormally dry periods only. The area is completley flooded in the winter, the only trees withstanding these wet co...

The once vast peat bogs on the hills to the south of Lower Lough Erne have been extensively planted with conifers. Now only a few small patches remain; each is a significant example of a now rare habitat. Although still recovering from the fires in the mid 1970's Lough Naman bog is relativley undisturbed. The bog forms a dome in a larger expanse of blanket bog. Bog Cotton and sedges grow on mossy hummocks where tiny sundews catch insects on their leaves covered in sticky droplets. The insects...

Sandwiched between Cuilcagh Mountain and the Erne Lowlands lies the most extensive area of limestone grassland in Northern Ireland. At one time the entire area was wooded with hazel, elm and ash. With the clearances for the farming since the Stone Age, only a few patches of hazel scrub now remain. The scrub shelters delicate woodland flowers including wood sorrel and primroses. The cuckoo is frequently heard in May. Meadow pipits perch on branches, but are most commonly seen rising and falling...

Overlooking Lower Lough Macnean is a magnificent 50m high limestone cliff, the Hanging Rock. Yew and jumiper cling to its face. At the bottom of the cliff is one of the finest ash woodland in Northern Ireland. It is believed that the great variety of lichens found here indicate woodland cover since ancient times. An area was clearfelled in the early 1940's and has now grown back naturally. Toothwort, a parasitic plant, lives on the roots of the hazel and elm. It looks unusual as it is totally...

A short nature trail starting opposite the Falls Bridge Car Park journeys through the damp shady woodland and continues up onto heath to a seat overlooking the reserve. From here are striking views down to Carrick Lough and a panorama of neighbouring hills. The woodland is native and varied. Underneath birch, oak, ash and holly trees, the damp conditions are favoured by bilberry, mosses and ferns. Filmy fern grows along the banks of the Sillees River as it runs through Correl Glen. The Woodlan...

Large, weathered oaks, 400 years old or more, grown in the ancient, native woodland on Inishfendra. These trees are occupied by the largest nesting heron colony in Ireland, with one oak supporting as many as 13 nests. Years ago oak was extracted for timber and now young ash and alder have grown up to fill the space in the canopy. Here, as at Marble Arch Reserve, the variety of plants and lichens indicate that this is a long established woodland. Goldilocks and early purple orchid grown under t...

Reilly Wood has old oak trees planted some 150 years ago under the management of Crom Estate. The trees are evenly spaced with full crowns which prevent light reaching the woodland floor, where bilberry, wood sorrel and young trees flourish. At the south of Reilly Wood, a thick band of rhododendron was originally planted as shelter for game. Unfortunately it encroached into the woodland but through careful management has now been removed, allowing heather and native trees, especially birch and...

These small, hilly islands are the tops of drumlins, the lower parts of which were drowned when Lough Erne was formed. The relatively unspoilt woodland on these islands is a mixture of many species including oak, yew and ash. These trees grow tall and from the canopy of the woodland whilst underneath, willow and hazel spread their branches to gather light. The spindle tree, with its green stems, grows here too but is hard to find. Only in autumn when its leaves turn dark red and the fruits are b...