Our opening hours are changing. From tomorrow, April 1st, we will be open between 7am - 8pm 😊 #grandstretch

1/2 We had great views of a Redshank preening right in front of our Wetland-cam this morning. Our wetland birds are preparing for the breeding season, changing into their summer plumage and getting ready to depart to their breeding territories. See 👇for camera link.

Our Sand Martin's are back in big numbers this am and very active at the nesting banks. This video shows the view from our outside camera this morning and our first visit to burrow 19 by a returning bird! You can check out our Sand Martin nestcams 24/7 on our YouTube channels!

A mallard couple @harpersisland.bsky.social #BirdOfTheDay #Reflections #nature #birds #harpersisland #wetlands #cork

The evenings are stretching out and our opening hours have changed. The gate will close at 7pm from this evening. Please note that it is STRICTLY not permitted for anyone to be on site after closing time.

Thanks folks.. we agree 🥰

Have you been to @harpersisland.bsky.social yet? You should. #cork

The best time to see wetland birds is about one hour either side of high tide and the higher the high tide the better. Our 2026 Guide to the the best high tides during opening hours is now available to download from our website via 👉: birdwatchcork.com/wp-content/u...

Well done Derek Mooney and Niall Hatch Jim Wilson Declan Murphy Camerman Dónal Glackin for this super programme on wintering wetland birds at @harpersisland.bsky.social in Cork. Link to listen / watch www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2D8fIQUldI 👏🙏🦆 @rteradio1.bsky.social

TURN UP THE VOLUME! Curlews at roost last night on the reserve in dead calm conditions, and like this one, often very close to the camera. The sounds are incredible. Tonight just about now is a good time to check out the live stream ☺️

Thanks to the long sunny days we are able to turn on the infrared on our Wetland Cam at night. Here is part of a flock of over 200 Dunlin roosting right under the camera last night. Looking like a wallpaper pattern, almost all facing into what wind was there. The link to the camera is in our bio.

Don't forget that there we will be a special programme, which was made at the reserve, broadcast on RTE Radio 1 this afternoon at 3pm. You can also watch a version on YouTube 👉via : youtu.be/e2D8fIQUldI?...

1/3 To get the New Year off to a wildlife start why not join Derek Mooney and the team here on the reserve for a close-up look at the remarkable world of wintering wetland birds.

Here is four hours of video taken on the 27th squeezed into 15 seconds, showing the birds piling into the wetland to rest when the tide covers their feeding places as it rises, and leaving again as it drops and their feeding places become exposed again.

This clip was taken from our wetland cam at 10am (high tide) this am, which is the best time to see wetland birds. Just add an hour each day, to get the high tide time so that you can check out all the action. There should be high no's of birds there up to an hour either side of the high tide.

2025 has been another great year on the reserve. We would like to thank all our volunteers, visitors, supporters and followers on social media and wish you all a great Christmas and a happy and wildlife filled 2026! Nollaig Shona

1/2 Jim Wilson was lucky enough to interview Mary Fitzgerald, who was the last surviving member of the family that lived and farmed on Harper's Island not long before she died in January of this year. One of nine children, she was born there in December 1937.

The weather hasn't been great this weekend, so we thought we would brighten things up with a very recent clip of our Kingfisher 'fishing' from the top of one of our Sand Martin nesting banks. Thanks to Jim Wilson for sharing 🙏

A scene from the wetlands at Harper's Island, Glounthane, Cork. @harpersisland.bsky.social many thanks to one of the Harper's Island community who found my phone in the car park. The amount of hassle you saved me from , it is very much appreciated 👍.

1/2 In partnership with the Cork branch of @BirdWatchIE we are delighted to announce the Irish premier of 'Beyond Our Senses' by Emmy award winning producer David Busse, to be screened at Glounthaune Community Hall Thursday night, Dec 4th

A large flock of Golden Plover coming in to land this morning. All almost certainly here from Iceland for the winter. Lovely sounds too as they land. Thanks to our @BirdWatchIE volunteers who have made this Wetland Camera project happen.

Here's clip of a flock of Dunlin coming in to the roost last night. For the next while, high tide will be after bedtime, so while the camera will continue to stream live, we won't turn on the night vision again until we have high tides at a reasonable hour. We will keep u posted ☺️

Here's a clip from our Wetland Cam last night showing lots of Curlew. With a sunny day here today, we have enough power to so that we can turn on the night vision mode on the camera for high tide tonight from 8pm-11pm. Th e link to the camera is in our bio 😊

It's well worth checking in on the cameras right now.. the infrared camera is on, it's high tide and the wetlands are full of birds.. .. 😊 www.youtube.com/live/BpW9fu1...

Yes, agree, it is always a great spot to relax and enjoy some nature. Thanks to all who continue to make Harper’s Island a great space for the birds and us humans too 👍🏻

Great footage, thanks for sharing Colm. Itt was lovely and peaceful down at the wetlands today.

Redshank this morning at Harper’s Island, Cork #birds #redshank #nature

We are delighted to announce our new Wetland Cam. This camera will stream 24/7 live images and sound from out on our wetlands. Please share the link with friends, school teachers and anyone you think might be interested www.youtube.com/channel/UCXj...

1/3 We had another great volunteer morning on the reserve yesterday. The weather gods were kind to us and we got a lot done, including replacing one of our wetland access gates and cutting back some encroaching gorse on the nature trail.

Clearing out old Sand Martin nests from the nesting wall at @harpersisland.bsky.social

Notice - Our opening hours are changing for the winter. From Nov 1st we will be open from 9am - 5pm each day. Oiche Samhain Shona Daoibh go léir 🍂🍁🍂🍁

We had surprise visitors to the reserve today when these Whooper Swans showed up. These swans recently arrived from Iceland & will spend the winter here. Whooper Swans are scarce visitors in Cork Harbour, but large flocks over winter near Fermoy 🙏 to Michael Jones for the pic.

Thanks for sharing Gemma - great footage, poor Sparrowhawk!

Thanks to a loan of a thermal imaging camera over the next few months we will be having a look at what goes on on the reserve after dark. Under the cover of darkness our very healthy Rabbit population was looking very relaxed out in the open near the Scrape Hide.

On Saturday we will be holding our regular monthly volunteer morning on the reserve. We have two hours of work, tasks varying from month to month and something for all abilities, with a tea break in the middle. You don't have to come for the two hours, all help is welcome 🙂

And just like that it's going to be October tomorrow. For the next month we will be open from 9am to 7pm daily.

The Bar-tailed Godwit, one of our special species, is beginning to arrive back to Cork from its summer breeding grounds. Drop down to the reserve to see this beautiful bird for yourself.

Something cute for mid-week 😊 This young Wood Mouse was out exploring next to the nature trail -at the weekend, showing no fear whatsoever of the phone. It is rare to get such a close view of this super little animal. Thanks to @limosawit.bsky.social for sharing!

A reasonably close Little Egret at Harper's Island on Wednesday.

Thanks to everyone who helped out at today's Volunteer Morning. We got a lot done, including waterproofing of the Borrow Dyke Hide, pigeon-proofing the ceiling in our workshop, trimming back brambles & putting the finishing touches to our new viewing area. Our volunteers are the best! meitheal

Thanks to the support of the AA-AGORA fund, we are installing a new viewing stop at the corner between our two hides. Special thanks to the great work of the members of Glounthaune Men's Shed who are constructing this new viewing area and to our BirdWatch members who designed the structure #meitheal

A frequently recorded butterfly at the reserve is the Red Admiral. We are unsure how it got its name, but it may be that the name is a corruption of 'Red Admirable'. This one was photographed on the nature trail.

1/2 Three more horses arrived for their summer holidays today, bringing the herd total to 9. These living lawnmowers keep our dry meadow in optimal condition and an effective check on the invasive saltmarsh species, Spartina anglica.

Another butterfly to look out for on the nature trail is the beautiful Peacock. It gets its name from the false ‘eyes’ on the upper side of its wings, reminiscent of pattern on the tail feathers of the bird with the same name and thought to scare off predators!

Keep an eye out for the Painted Lady butterfly especially on the Buddleja (Butterfly Bush) near the farmhouse gate. This species travels thousands of miles from sub-Saharan Africa to the Arctic Circle and back, with each new generation moving north and south in a butterfly relay race #butterflies

As you walk the nature trail you will pass two wetland habitats we created back in 2019. These are a great place to look for dragonflies & damselflies. This is a female Blue-tailed Damselfly. Unlike the bigger dragonflies, damselflies fold their wings over their backs at rest.

Lots of flyover Water Rail but not on the official @harpersisland.bsky.social list yet….

Detections for late June- late July @harpersisland.bsky.social LRP recorded on 5 dates. Not 100% sure of Barn Owl. Analysis of 124 hours or recording took 40 minutes using @chirpity-nocmig.bsky.social on the computer plus another 40 mins for me so delete errors. Recorded 4 hours per night

Deborah D'Arcy was lucky enough to witness a stoat killing a young rabbit on the nature trail. This may seem harsh but stoats help keep our VERY healthy rabbit population in check. Unlike its cousin the weasel, the stoat is native to Ireland. They will attack prey up to three times their size!

Next Saturday, we are hosting a flower and mini-creature safari in our meadow area with Harper's regular Tom Gittings. If you want to learn all about meadow ecology and the plants and creatures that live there why not join us July 26th, meeting at the farmhouse at 11am.