Wexford Naturalists' Field Club

08/09/2026

★★★ Cetation Spotting ★★★
One of our members - Harm Deenen - volunteers each year to assist with national records on cetation activity (whales, dolphins, porpoises) by travelling on board passanger ferries from Rosslare to mainland europe. This is kindly facilitated by the ferry operators and yields valuable national data. He sent in a great shot of a Common Dolphin enjoying surfing the ships wake. 26 cetacean species have been recorded in Irish waters.
Find out more about Ireland's cetations here: https://iwdg.ie/about-us/

30/08/2026

★★★ September Club Lecture - Nature Based Solutions to flooding ★★★
On Thursday 3rd September the WNFC are pleased to welcome geographer Professor Mary Bourke, Trinity College Dublin, to present a public talk on “Natural Flood Management”. The talk commences at 8pm sharp in the Pumphouse at Wexford Wildfowl Reserve, Ardcavan (Eircode: Y35EY89). Non-members welcome at Club lectures and a €5 door-fee applies (juveniles excepted) which includes refreshments and cookies!

Mary received her BA and MA in Geography from University College Dublin, took her PhD in Australia, and following postings in the Smithsonian, Oxford, and Arizona (for NASA), she returned to TCD in Ireland where she now leads and collaborates on Irish and European climate action projects exploring resilient landscapes and landuse, natural capital accounting, and more. Mary’s research embraces examination of how landscapes respond to extreme environmental change, including how climate change, sea-level rise, and extreme winter storms cause flooding and coastal erosion and how nature-based solutions can be deployed to manage the risk. She was Principal Investigator on the EPA–OPW SloWaters nature based flood management project
(https://slowaters.eu/). See research report here: https://www.epa.ie/publications/research/reports/research-518-a-strategic-look-at-natural-water-retention-measures-the-slowaters-project.php

28/08/2026

19/08/2026

Kildare Wildlife Rescue (KWR) have announced the return of the Kildare Biodiversity Conference 2026, a flagship event organised by Kildare Wildlife Rescue (KWR) in partnership with Kildare County Council, and supported by the Local Biodiversity Action Fund from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Further details at https://kildarebiodiversityconference.ie/2026-conference/

16/08/2026

★★★ Dragonflies - A Hawkers Guide ★★★
Differentiating between the four common hawker dragonflies in the southeast can be a challenge for the new observer. But once you get the hang of a few key characteristics you will be more confident in telling which species you have, and if it is a male or female. The easy stuff is perhaps telling the male from the female just on the a**l appendages alone - the males have an extra appendage between to two larger appendages.. See the picture guides attached for more details.
Dragonflies are important indicators of water quality.
General anatomy as will assist with the text in the photographs: Thorax (chest area behind the eyes); Abdomen (segmented 'tail' area below the wings); A**l appendages (structures at the end of the abdomen); Costa (leading edge of wing); Antehumeral stripes (stripes on the upper surface of the thorax between the eyes and the wings).

15/08/2026

★★★ The Other Meadow Habitants ★★★
The pollinators like butterflies, bees, and hoverflies are well heralded visitors to our no-mow meadows, but there are many other not-so-obvious meadow friends. Shieldbugs in particular really like these spaces as a careful examination of gone-over Knapweed, Doc plants, and Selfheal will reveal. They are really good at hiding in plain sight so take your time to look. And hold off on cutting your meadow until September as these shieldbugs are feeding on the developing seeds before they drop.

14/08/2026

*** Club Plant Hunt - August 2026 ***
A good number of Club members turned up for the estuarine plant hunt on Saturday 8th August in Fethard-on-Sea. Many thanks to Paul Green (BSBI and Club Member) for his enthusiasm and generosity in sharing his knowledge. The subtleties of glasswort differentiation tested us learners! Many thanks to Mick O'Connor for organising and to Liam Ryan for permitting access via his land.

14/08/2026

🐚🌊 Make a splash for marine biodiversity for by joining our Seashore Splash! from 15-23 August. Explore your local shore, spot amazing sea life, and help record Ireland’s coastal biodiversity. https://exploreyourshore.ie/seashore-splash-heritage-week-2025/ 🦀⭐

12/08/2026

★★★ NATIONAL HERITAGE WEEK 2026 ★★★
Wexford events for Heritage Week 2026 running 15-23 August are listed here:
https://www.heritageweek.ie/event-listings?q=&where%5B%5D=wexford
See examples of just 5 of the events in the images attached.

11/08/2026

As part of Heritage Week starting on Saturday, we'll be having a 'Protect your Nature Reserve' day down at the Raven this Sunday from 11am to 3pm.
We'll be at the entrance to the Raven by the info signs, so pop by for a chat and to maybe learn something new about the Reserve.