6 days ago
Wexford families roll up their sleeves for ‘bio blitz' at popular OPW site
With the public's assistance, members of the Office of Public Works took to the grounds to collect as much information as possible on the many different plants and animals in the area, but it was a race against time to find and record the various species over just one day.
The Bio Blitz took place from 3 p.m. on Friday, May 23 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 24, and the staff at the park were delighted to see families, nature lovers, and curious explorers of all ages join the expert scientists and naturalists for the guided walks and hands-on workshops.
The activities that took place on Friday included a native tree talk; woodland and grassland plants, and a late night bat walk. On Saturday, there was a Dawn Chorus led by Glynn Anderson; an insect safari; bird bingo; Lilliputian Flora, and bees and pollinators; pond dipping, and a meadow walk with head gardener, Kevin Naughton.
Speaking about the event, Gerry O'Neill explained that hosting the Bio Blitz 'was all new' to himself and other staff in the park, which was coordinated by the National Biodiversity Centre in Waterford. However, he added, 'it was great to see the turnout, we had great numbers with over 40 people for some of the activities, and we're looking forward to building on those events as people of all ages enjoyed them.'
The botanists made their way into areas of the grounds, such as Slieve Coillte, to collect other sample of data while the events were taking place throughout the 24-hour blitz, in an effort to study as much information from the site as possible, given it may have been trickier for the public to access.
'Everyone was so enthusiastic and it was great to see how well the public reacted to the event. It was certainly worth the effort when everyone came together,' Gerry concluded.
The official results from the Bio Blitz are still in progress.
