Wildlife in Your Garden Bumblebees Swifts Do your bit for Biodiversity Everyone can help biodiversity a little by making a few changes in our gardens; whether it is feeding the birds, planting a few trees, or sowing There are a number of ways in which you can get involved and play a vital some wildflowers, you can do one thing for biodiversity. FACT FILE part in conserving and enhancing Fermanagh and Omagh’s biodiversity. Record Local Wildlife Grow Wild on Your Farm Trees Plants & Flowers ●● There are 20 species of bumblebees in the island Help build a better picture of local Any landowner can help protect and of Ireland and only 1 biodiversity and become a wildlife enhance wildlife by making small changes species of honey bee recorder! Record any sightings of important in management. Why not leave field margins uncut for birds and insects or cut ●● Only girl bees sting! wildlife and report these directly to the Ulster Museum’s recording centre, hedgerows late in the season, so seeds and berries are available to wildlife. ●● The bees favourite CEDaR www.nmni.com/CEDaR colour is purple Report Wildlife Crime ●● Without bees, crops like Volunteer and Get Stuck In Hazelnut © Laurie Campbell Incidents such as destroying nests, dumping strawberries, apples and If it’s tree planting, scrub clearance or even tomatoes wouldn’t grow and water pollution should not be ignored, Go native if you plant a tree or a hedge in your hay making, there are opportunities to as these have an impact on biodiversity. garden to support our native birds, insects and ●● Most people will volunteer near you. Organisations such as Contact the following places if you suspect mammals. Pick from berry rich rowan trees, commonly see 6 different The Conservation Volunteers, RSPB, National a wildlife crime has been committed. nectar rich cherries or trusty old hawthorn to species in their gardens; Trust and Ulster Wildlife have conservation ● get natural food and important shelter into red-tailed bumblebee, ● Killing or disturbing protected species If you have little space, plant wildflowers projects throughout the Fermanagh and your garden. For more tips see white-tailed bumblebee, should be reported to your local PSNI in container pots or windowsill boxes Omagh area that you can get involved in. www.tcv.org.uk/northernireland/environment/ buff-tailed bumblebee, Swifts © Geoff Campbell office (ring 101 on a landline). to add a great splash of colour at your biodiversity/advice/native-trees-your-garden garden bumblebee, ● front door. These will attract bees and Red-tailed bumblebee and carder bee © John Breen Garden for Wildlife on Your Own Patch ● Water Pollution Hotline for urgent early bumblebee and Swifts are fascinating birds that are here for just 3-4 incidents. Tel: 0800 807060. butterflies, providing much needed nectar months a year from May – August. They have a unique Have a go at wildlife gardening and enjoy common carder bee Bumblebees and solitary bees can be found in a wide FACT FILE throughout the summer. There are many ability to drink, eat, bathe and even sleep on the wing, ●● Grounded or injured bats in your range of habitats but are normally associated with the small wonders in your own patch. From Butterfly Conservation’s flowers and plants you can get from your ●● Download your recording only landing intentionally to breed and nest. They return building, please call CEDaR (Centre for flower rich grasslands, heaths, vibrant gardens and ●● Swifts have ‘no feet’! planting flowers for bees and butterflies local garden centre that will support bees card for free and start each year to the same nest, bringing a little extra material Environmental Data and Recording). Top Nectar Plants species rich hedgerows. With the decline of species Well they have tiny feet to creating a hedgehog haven, there are and butterflies. Make sure to pick single- helping today! stuck on with saliva. Significant declines are partially due Email: [email protected], or ● rich grassland and hay meadows in our district, there only for clinging to walls many small things you can do to help. ● Ice plant (sedum) flowered plants so insects can reach the http://biodiversityni.com/ to the loss of nest sites as buildings are lost or renovated. telephone: 028 9039 5264. is little natural food for bees in the wider countryside, but can’t perch or walk ● ● nectar more easily; grow night-scented publication/ Swifts can be seen every summer in flocks as they take ● Lavender ● Aubretia meaning parks and gardens are even more important Get Involved in a Community Project plants to attract moths and in turn bats; bee-recording-sheet ●● Reports have estimated part in screaming parties over rooftops in Enniskillen and Acknowledgements ● ● as food reserves. To help our bees we need to start ● Michaelmas daisy ● Field scabious and plant for each season – bees and that swift numbers have Omagh towns, Derrygonnelly, Lisnaskea and beyond. Community groups can help deliver projects planting better flowers for them, restore and replant The Fermanagh and Omagh LBAP Steering butterflies need a long season of nectar- plummeted by 47% in for biodiversity; whether it is creating a ●● Oregano/marjoram ●● Scabious wild meadow areas and record which ones we see. Group have provided invaluable advice rich plants. See butterfly-conservation.org the UK in last 10 years Local Actions wildlife garden or planting community ●● Red valerian ●● Bramble for more information. throughout the development of the Local Actions ●● Why not go on a swift ●● Raise awareness and encourage the public to woodlands, your group has potential. LBAP. Thanks are extended to the many take part in swift recording each summer individuals who took time to respond Buff-tailed Bumblebee Common Carder Bumblebee ●● In partnership, manage key road-side verges finding mission? Look during the consultation phases. Ponds to create better wildlife corridors out for the screaming ●● Monitor important nesting sites parties at dusk from May and identify new nest sites Water is essential for all life – all species of animal and plant ●● Trial pollinator friendly plants in – August and keep an eye need to be able to access it. Having a water feature in your public parks and gardens to see which buildings ●● Encourage businesses and public To find out more about the Fermanagh and Omagh LBAP or how

garden will attract species that you would otherwise not get, or Early Bumblebee Garden Bumblebee organisations to erect swift boxes or swift you can DO YOUR BIT for biodiversity, please contact: ●● Encourage the public to make their swifts are nesting on ensure the wildlife that does visit, will stay around a bit longer! bricks into new or existing buildings gardens more bee friendly Fermanagh and Omagh Biodiversity Officer If you have space for a pond, great but be mindful of safety for ●● Check out ●● Trial the use of swift sound systems Fermanagh and Omagh District Council young children. Or why not try out a pond in a bucket that is ●● Support the Pollinator Plan 2015-2020 and Junior www.saveourswifts.co.uk to attract swifts to new sites Lisnamallard House, Old Mountfield Road, Omagh, Co. Tyrone BT79 7EG sunk into the ground? Every chance to provide freshwater in your Pollinator Plan 2015-2020 for more detailed Tel: 0300 3031777

S Red-tailed Bumblebee White-tailed Bumblebee information on swifts in NI m on garden is vital to species like frogs, newts and even dragonflies. www.biodiversityireland.ie/projects/irish-pollinator- ●● Provide advice and signposting to projects that Email: [email protected] oot bs h n d Ro ewt © Bra For more advice and tips seefreshwaterhabitats.org.uk initiative/all-ireland-pollinator-plan/summary/ need swift mitigation during renovation works Websites: www.fermanaghomagh.com | www.biodiversityni.com www.idesignni.com | Tel: 028 8224 0149

Pots with herbs MAKE YOUR Fruit trees, strawberries, tomatoes, courgettes, peas Watch the Birdie Bug Hotels GARDEN Area with Red Squirrels long grass Create a 5 star home for bugs in your POLLINATOR Solitary bee garden and get the children enthusiastic FRIENDLY nest box about what wildlife they can entice. Using Flowering Trees Areas of natural materials, straw, hollow stemmed lawn uncut plants, old pallets, bamboo sticks, garden Lawn with some weeds waste and other odds and sods, build a • Shrubs that flower in Spring & Autumn log pile or full blown hotel. Pick a quiet Shrubs that flower • Bee friendly plants - Lavender, Comfrey, Catmint in Autumn-Winter • Don’t use pesticides corner away from your tidy areas, build it © Biodiversityireland.ie and leave for woodlice, We all love to watch a robin hoke for bees, ladybirds worms, a blue tit stealing spiders from a and slugs to wall or blackbirds making short work of your move in. Bats blackcurrant bush, so why not help them even more and make your garden bird friendly. Plant more trees and shrubs that produce berries, erect a nestbox to provide shelter and don’t forget their hygiene by making a home-made bird bath. Look up https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/ makeahomeforwildlife/ for more fantastic ways to help wildlife in your garden. You can feed the birds too with everything from bought FACT FILE nuts and seeds, to old pasta scraps, hard cheese, bruised apples and more. Why not ●● There are 8 species of make your own bird feeder too? Download lots bats in Northern Ireland Red Squirrels have found refuge in coniferous of ideas to help birds and other wildlife from Red squirrels © Laurie Campbell ●● Female bats only have Soprano pipistrelle © Laurie Campbell forests but can still be found in deciduous www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/naturedetectives/ one baby bat per year woodland. Their varied diet includes nuts, seeds, ●● Bats are not blind! Bats are one of the smallest mammals in NI, commonly FACT FILE berries and fungi. They are an endangered found in buildings, trees, caves and bridges. Despite species due to the threats that the grey squirrel ●● Bats use echolocation to their widespread occurrence, they are afforded poses including disease and out-competition. For Peats Sake – Go Peat Free ●● Squirrels do not hibernate over winter navigate and find food European protection due to their sensitivity to habitat Reds are found throughout Co. Fermanagh in Using peat based compost is one of the most environmentally damaging change and vulnerability to persecution. Key threats ●● It is thought a squirrel can tell gardens, woods and forests and some remnant ●● Find out lots more at activities that the gardener can undertake. Our bogs are a unique and include loss of roost sites such as buildings, trees, a good nut from a rotten nut populations are found in Gortin Glen Forest www.bats-ni.org.uk threatened habitat, home to specialised plants and animals and are bridges, foraging areas, wildlife corridors and poisoning. by weighing it in its paws Park and Drumquin area. More single records including what to do if you important feature in this Fermanagh and Bats can be seen in many habitats throughout the of reds are being submitted closer to Omagh find a sick or injured bat ● Omagh LBAP. So for peats sake, go peat-free! district; along rivers and lakes, in woodlands, in your ● The red squirrel is a protected town, Tempo and other villages throughout. species in Northern Ireland You can help stop the destruction of our precious bogs. ●● A pipistrelle bat can garden or along a hedgerow in the late evening. eat over 3000 midges ●● Reds build a nest called a ‘drey’ Local Actions Local Actions each NIGHT! in the fork of a tree and line ●● Support the work of local red squirrel groups See the full Fermanagh and Omagh ●● Run bat walks and talks across the it with grass and leaves including the Fermanagh Red Squirrel Group Fermanagh and Omagh district to raise awareness and West Tyrone Red Squirrel Group Local Biodiversity Action Plan online at: ●● Find out more about how to help your ●● Guide Council and other organisations on their local red squirrels at this website ●● Celebrate Red Squirrel Week each October Local Biodiversity Action Plan legislative duties with regards bats and development www.fermanaghredsquirrelgroup.com ●● Work in partnership with NGO’s and ●● Helping to conserve and enhance local habitats and species ●● Signpost public in aid of help if grounded ●● Record sightings of red and grey public landowners to seek viable ● or injured bats are found squirrels online at solutions to the grey squirrel threat ● Raising awareness and knowledge of local biodiversity www2.habitas.org.uk/ ● fermanaghomagh.com/residential-services/biodiversity Common pipistrelle ●● Survey public spaces each year to identify ●● Educate on best practice in ● Involving local people and developing partnerships to help deliver action for biodiversity © Laurie Campbell records/squirrels roost sites and key foraging areas supplementary feeding reds Banded demoiselle © Geoff Campbell Wetlands Woodlands Calcareous Habitats

Bluebell © Giles Knight Northern Ireland is one of the least wooded areas in Europe, with only 1% of land under native tree cover but our district still hosts some amazing woodlands ideal for exploring with the family or for a quiet peaceful stroll. From Crom Estate in South Fermanagh to the Gortin Glens, north of Omagh town, there are woodlands accessible to all. Local Actions ●● Raise awareness through walks, activities, talks and media ●● Increase woodland cover through promotion of schemes that are available for restocking and creation ●● Pilot new woodland planting and woodland management schemes on publically accessible land to act as best practice ●● Promote and increase the recording Seskinore Forest © Julie Corry Upper Lough Erne near Crom © Hannah Northridge of key woodland species

From the Fermanagh Lakelands, pristine rivers such as the Owenkillew and Colebrook, to smaller lakes and ponds like Killyfole Local Nature Reserve and Loughmacrory ASSI, the Fermanagh and Omagh District is home to some outstanding wetlands. Fermanagh and Omagh District From unique species like pollan and Arctic charr to the more commonplace like mute Glacial erratc on limestone pavement, Gortmaconnell © Fermanagh and Omagh District Council Gortin Rousky swan, otter and salmon, our freshwater habitats are vital for a wide range of life. Why not visit some of these wonderful places to see wildlife… For more information on directions and facilities see: biodiversityni.com/fermanagh-and-omagh Wild Thyme © Fermanagh Our district hosts a significant portion of NI calcareous Greencastle Local Actions and Omagh District Council habitat due to the underlying carboniferous limestone, A5 ●● Raise awareness through guided 1. Gortin Lakes A505 including underground caves, limestone pavement and 2. Gortin Glen Forest Park Mountjoy Mountfield walks, events, talks and media Creggan associated calcareous grasslands. The Marble Arch 3. An Creagan Visitor Centre and Creggan Bog Local Nature Reserve A505 Caves Global Geopark is an excellent network of wildlife ● 4. Loughmacrory Loughmacrory ● Develop projects at suitable sites to Killyclogher sites across the Council area and beyond that showcases 5. Grange Park, Omagh help enhance their value for wildlife Drumquin Carrickmore not just these calcareous habitats but bogs, forests, lakes 6. McCauley Park, Omagh OMAGH and more. Log on to www.marblearchcavesgeopark.com ●● Promote and increase the recording 7. Riverside Walk, Omagh Otter lunching on salmon © Laurie Campbell to explore further. of key wetland species 8. Seskinore Forest Sixmilecross 9. Ecclesville Demesne A5 Pettigo Lack A32 Local Actions 10. Dromore Riverside Walk 11. Sloughan Glen Beragh ●● Raise awareness of the importance of calcareous Grassland 12. Lough Bradan Ederney habitats for biodiversity through specific guided 13. Castle Archdale Country Park Kesh A5 walks, activities at MACGG events, talks and media Dromore Seskinore 14. Necarne Estate Leggs A32 15. Ballinamallard Mill Walk Belleek Lower Lough Erne Fintona ●● Promote and increase the recording of key Irvinestown Garvaghy 16. Forthill Park, Enniskillen Eskra calcareous grassland species such as wild thyme. A46 Lisnarick Castle Basin and Broad meadows, Enniskillen A46 Racecourse Lough Walk, Enniskillen Kilskeery A32 Trillick Riverside Walk, Enniskillen Garrison Round ‘O’ Park, Enniskillen Lough Ballinamallard 17. Castle Coole NT Melvin Derrygonnelly Clabby 18. Lough Head Park and Wildfowl Centre 19. Killyfole Lough Local Nature Reserve Tempo 20. Crom Estates NT A46 A32 21. Bellanaleck Moorings Walk Springfield 22. Florence Court NT Boho ENNISKILLEN 23. Cuilcagh Mountain Park A4

24. Killykeeghan and Crossmurrin Nature Reserves Upper Lough Letterbreen A4 Macnean Wet grassland © Giles Knight 25. Cladagh Glen Nature Reserve Belcoo Brookeborough 26. Cottage Lawn, Belcoo A4 Bellanaleck Maguiresbridge There are many different types of grassland found in the District; lowland meadows, 27. Belmore Forest Lower Lough calcareous grassland, coastal and floodplain grazing marsh, lowland dry acid grassland, 28. Ballintempo Forest Macnean Limestone pavement at Legacurragh Valley Trail © Fermanagh and Omagh District Council purple moor-grass and rush pasture and road side verges. While the majority of NI’s 29. Carrigan Forest A509 wild grasslands have been lost to modern farming practices and development, a 30. Big Dog Forest Lisnaskea Roslea 31. Correl Glen Nature Reserve Kinawley significant proportion of what remains, occurs in West Fermanagh and South Tyrone. Upper 32. Lough Navar Forest Lough Erne Local Actions The Magho Cliffs Walk Donagh Magheraveely Invasive Species Lough Navar Lakes Walk Derrylin Newtownbutler ●● Work with landowners to raise awareness 33. Castle Caldwell Forest of their importance in order to maintain and 34. Tully Castle

improve that land for biodiversity 35. Ely Lodge Forest A509 36. Monea Castle ●● Through partnerships, manage key road M 37. Devenish Island a r side verge sites for biodiversity s h F r iti ● lla ● Pilot wildflower meadows on publically accessible land ry © S aig tephen Cr ●● Promote and increase the recording of key grassland species Urban Hedgerows Urban habitats are vitally important for a wide range of Bogs and Heath wildlife and for people, as most P e first encounter wildlife in their ea g co rid c th garden, at the local park or in k b or uttt h N golf courses! From ladybirds to erfly © Hanna hedgehogs, blue tits to song thrushes, and even bats, our urban habitats are a much needed y rr Co refuge for many native species. S lie undew © Ju Himalayan Balsam © Brad Robson Natve hedgerow Local Actions © Laurie Campbell ●● Raise awareness through Non-native invasive species are the second biggest threat to biodiversity after guided walks, wildlife Hedgerows are vital wildlife corridors within our fragmented landscape allowing birds habitat loss. Human activities are the main cause of the introduction and spread gardening workshops, and animals freedom to move from one pocket of woodland to another. They host a of invasive species. Key invasive species affecting our area include Japanese talks and media wide range of wildlife, including plants such as primrose and herb robert, birds such as knotweed, Himalayan balsam, giant hogweed, zebra mussel, pondweeds, grey the dunnock and yellowhammer, mammals such as bats, and many types of insects. squirrel, American mink and potentially many more on the horizon. ●● Promote and increase the Gortn Lakes © Fermanagh and Omagh District Council recording of key urban Local Actions Local Actions species, utilising the ● ● range of citizen science ● Raise awareness through guided ● Raise awareness and provide advice through There are three types of peatland Local Actions walks, activities, talks and media guided walks, talks, media and websites ecosystems: lowland raised bog, blanket schemes available. ●● Raise awareness through specific guided ● ● bog and fens and two heathland types; ●● Support government ● Work with landowners to raise awareness of the ● Provide training to relevant staff walks, activities, talks and media upland heathland and montane heath, departments through importance of hedges for biodiversity and through from Council and other organisations in our district. They were historically ●● Advise landowners where possible advice and signposting training and funding, help replant and restore to identify and where possible, viewed as vast desolate places that were manage invasive species on appropriate management on how to manage their ●● Pilot hedge planting schemes on publically used for afforestation, sheep grazing ●● Promote and increase the recording estate for wildlife accessible land to act as best practice examples ●● Seek funding through partnerships to and peat cutting, but in recent years tackle invasive species on a wider scale the importance of bogs and heath for of key bog and heath species ●● Provide interpretation at ●● Promote and increase the recording biodiversity and as valuable carbon ●● Promote peat free compost at wildlife key public parks to explain Growing wild of key hedge species Blackberries and bramble Japanese Knotweed ●● Support the work of the Lough sinks has been widely recognised. gardening talks and workshops their biodiversity value © Veronica Santorum © Laurie Campbell © Laurie Campbell Erne Invasive Species Group