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WWT Castle Espie
Castle Espie is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) on the banks of Strangford Lough, three miles south of Comber, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the townland of the same name. It is part of the Strangford Lough Ramsar Site. It provides an early wintering site for almost the entire Nearctic population of pale-bellied brent geese. The Castle which gave the reserve its name no longer exists. Features It has the largest collection of ducks, geese and swans in Ireland. In addition to the reserve, the site contains The Kingfisher Kitchen, gift and book shop, The Graffan Gallery, exhibition areas, hides, woodland walks, sensory garden, events and activities, free parking, and a picnic area. The Visitor Centre features award winning sustainable design including rain water harvesting, natural reed bed filtration systems for waste water, solar power and provides sweeping vistas of the northern shore of Strangford lough from the Kingfisher kitchen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from terrestrial land forms or Body of water, water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique anoxic hydric soils. Wetlands are considered among the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal species. Methods for assessing wetland functions, wetland ecological health, and general wetland condition have been developed for many regions of the world. These methods have contributed to wetland conservation partly by raising public awareness of the functions some wetlands provide. Wetlands occur naturally on every continent. The water in wetlands is either freshwater, brackish or seawater, saltwater. The main w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Springwatch
''Springwatch'', ''Autumnwatch'' and ''Winterwatch'', sometimes known collectively as ''The Watches'', are annual BBC television series which chart the fortunes of British wildlife during the changing of the seasons in the United Kingdom. The programmes are broadcast live from locations around the country in a primetime evening slot on BBC Two. They require a crew of 100 and over 50 cameras, making them the BBC's largest British outside broadcast events. Many of the cameras are hidden and operated remotely to record natural behaviour, for example, of birds in their nests and badgers outside their sett. Bank Holiday (the last Monday in May) and is broadcast four nights each week for three weeks. After the success of the first ''Springwatch'' in 2005, the BBC commissioned a one-off special, ''Autumnwatch'', which became a full series in 2006. ''Winterwatch'' began in 2012, broadcast in January or February. The ''Springwatch'' brand has expanded to incorporate further TV spin-of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protected Areas Of County Down
Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although the mechanisms for providing protection vary widely, the basic meaning of the term remains the same. This is illustrated by an explanation found in a manual on electrical wiring: Some kind of protection is a characteristic of all life, as living things have evolved at least some protective mechanisms to counter damaging environmental phenomena, such as ultraviolet light. Biological membranes such as bark on trees and skin on animals offer protection from various threats, with skin playing a key role in protecting organisms against pathogens and excessive water loss. Additional structures like scales and hair offer further protection from the elements and from predators, with some animals having features such as spines or camouflage servi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Centres
The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on the water surface, and in some cases diving in at least shallow water. The family contains around 174 species in 43 genera. (The magpie goose is no longer considered to be part of the Anatidae and is now placed in its own family, Anseranatidae.) They are generally herbivorous, and are monogamous breeders. A number of species undertake annual migrations. A few species have been domesticated for agriculture, and many others are hunted for food and recreation. Five species have become extinct since 1600, and many more are threatened with extinction. Description and ecology The ducks, geese, and swans are small- to large-sized birds with a broad and elongated general body plan. Diving species vary from this in being rounder. Extant s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tourist Attractions In County Down
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure and not less than 24 hours, business and other purposes". Tourism can be domestic (within the traveller's own country) or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments. Tourism numbers declined as a result of a strong economic slowdown (the late-2000s recession) between the second half of 2008 and the end of 2009, and in consequence of the outbreak of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, but slowly recovered until the COVID-19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Protection Areas In Northern Ireland
Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * Specials (novel), ''Specials'' (novel), a novel by Scott Westerfeld * ''Specials'', the comic book heroes, see Rising Stars (comic), ''Rising Stars'' (comic) Film and television * Special (lighting), a stage light that is used for a single, specific purpose * Special (film), ''Special'' (film), a 2006 scifi dramedy * The Specials (2000 film), ''The Specials'' (2000 film), a comedy film about a group of superheroes * The Specials (2019 film), ''The Specials'' (2019 film), a film by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano * Television special, television programming that temporarily replaces scheduled programming * Special (TV series), ''Special'' (TV series), a 2019 Netflix Original TV series * Specials (TV series), ''Specials'' (TV series), a 1991 TV ser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nature Centres In Northern Ireland
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena. The word ''nature'' is borrowed from the Old French ''nature'' and is derived from the Latin word ''natura'', or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant " birth". In ancient philosophy, ''natura'' is mostly used as the Latin translation of the Greek word '' physis'' (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics of plants, animals, and other features of the world to develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castlereagh Lower
Castlereagh Lower (named after the former barony of Castlereagh) is a historic barony in County Down, Northern Ireland. It was created by 1841 with the division of Castlereagh into two. The barony roughly matches the former Gaelic territory of ''Uí Blathmaic'', anglicized Blathewic.O'Laverty, James (1878)"The Territory of the Ards" ''An Historical Account of the Diocese of Down and Conor, Ancient and Modern''. p.64. Quote: "Their territory extended from the vicinity of Bangor to that of Carrickmannon, and included the modern civil parishes of Holywood, Dundonald, Comber, Killinchy, Kilmood, Tullynakill, with parts of Bangor, Newtownards, and Knock-breda." It is bordered by three other baronies: Ards Lower to the east; Dufferin to the south; and Castlereagh Upper to the west and south-west. Castlereagh Lower is also bounded by Belfast Lough to the north and Strangford Lough to the south-east. List of settlements Below is a list of settlements in Castlereagh Lower: Towns * Bango ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barony (Ireland)
In Ireland, a barony ( ga, barúntacht, plural ) is a historical subdivision of a county, analogous to the hundreds into which the counties of England were divided. Baronies were created during the Tudor reconquest of Ireland, replacing the earlier cantreds formed after the original Norman invasion.Mac Cotter 2005, pp.327–330 Some early baronies were later subdivided into half baronies with the same standing as full baronies. Baronies were mainly cadastral rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being superseded by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. Subsequent adjustments of county boundaries mean that some baronies now straddle two counties. The final catalogue of baronies numbered 331, with an average area of ; therefore, each county was divided, on average, into 10 or 11 baronies. Creation The island of Ireland was "shired" into counties in two distinct periods: the east and south duri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tullynakill
Tullynakill () is a civil parish and townland (of 317 acres) in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Castlereagh Lower. History The name Tullynakill appears in the 1615 Terrier of church property and on the Raven maps of c.1625. An inquisition on the bishop’s land was taken at ''Tullomkill'' in 1617, and in 1659 ''Tollenekill'' was the parish and ''Tolinkill'' the townland. Antiquarian William Reeves noted in the mid-19th century the ruins of a 17th-century church next to the one then in use in Tullynakill townland. There was a church on this site in the 9th century and the ruined old church is dated 1639. A new church was built in 1826, but is now closed. In 1836 it had a population of 1,386 people. Settlements The civil parish contains the village of Ardmillan. Townlands The civil parish contains the following townlands: * Ballydrain * Ballyglighorn * Ballymartin * Big Gull Rock * Bird Island * Castle Espie * Cross Island *Duck Rock ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Civil Parishes In Ireland
Civil parishes () are units of territory in the island of Ireland that have their origins in old Gaelic territorial divisions. They were adopted by the Anglo-Norman Lordship of Ireland and then by the Elizabethan Kingdom of Ireland, and were formalised as land divisions at the time of the Plantations of Ireland. They no longer correspond to the boundaries of Roman Catholic or Church of Ireland parishes, which are generally larger. Their use as administrative units was gradually replaced by Poor_law_union#Ireland, Poor Law Divisions in the 19th century, although they were not formally abolished. Today they are still sometimes used for legal purposes, such as to locate property in deeds of property registered between 1833 and 1946. Origins The Irish parish was based on the Gaelic territorial unit called a ''túath'' or ''Trícha cét''. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman barons retained the ''tuath'', later renamed a parish or manor, as a un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megan McCubbin
Megan McCubbin (born 1995) is an English zoologist, conservationist, photographer and television presenter. Biography McCubbin has dyslexia and took Environmental Studies at A-Level. A foundation year in Biological Science led her to study Zoology at the University of Liverpool. In 2017 she hosted an episode of the BBC documentary series ''Undercover Tourist'' about the bear bile industry. She presented an episode of ''Planet Defenders'' in which she investigated why protected sharks were being caught and sold as 'Rock Salmon'. With her stepfather Chris Packham, she has co-hosted ''Springwatch'', ''Autumnwatch'' and ''Winterwatch'' on BBC Two since 2020. In 2021, Packham and McCubbin co-hosted ''Chris and Meg's Wild Summer'' for the BBC. In May and June 2022, McCubbin presented ''Springwatch'' from the Kielder Forest, Hauxley Nature Reserve and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In August 2022, she joined the presenting team on ''Animal Park'', a 15-part series filmed at Longleat in W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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