Blanket Bog Restoration Project
Through various measures there is ongoing restoration of the EU Priority* mountain blanket bog habitat. This involves the removal of invasive alien conifers, ditch blocking, access control and hydrological monitoring.
Wetter areas of the blanket bog on the mountain plateaux are particularly important for wading brids such as snipe, curlew and golden plover.
Conifer removal and hydrological monitoring are important components of the restoration project.
Hen harrier Monitoring, Wing-tagging and Study
Data on breeding densities, success, productivity, predator effects, dispersal, foraging and diet as well winter roosting is being collated. This year wing-tagging of hen harrier chicks will hopefully give much needed data on the dispersal and survival dynamics of the Slieve Bloom population
Red grouse project
Through censusing of the red grouse population using 10 selected 1km grid squares employing the tape-playback method, data is being collecting regarding population size and distribution.
Damming of artificial ditches creates pools for chicks and adult red grouse and waders. Other work being carried include exclosure monitoring of the effects of mammal grazing on heather and experimental mowing of heather patches.
Butterfly Transect Recording Scheme
Butterflies are valuable bioindicators and information on species and numbers is being collected from a selected transect on the Nature Reserve.
