HomeWildlife Guide - A Walk on the Wild Side
North
Suggested time: one dayLocations: Waterworks, Belfast Castle Estate, Cave Hill Country Park
Waterworks
Originally constructed as reservoirs, the middle and upper ponds at the Waterworks, at the junction of Antrim and Cavehill roads, is just a short bus ride from the city centre, now provide refuge for a wide variety of waterbirds.Darting common swifts, grey herons, coots, tufted ducks and pochard can be found at the upper pond, as well as great-crested grebes and red-breasted mergansers and cormorants.
If you are lucky you may also see dippers, grey wagtails and kingfishers, common snipe and redshank. In spring and summer common blue and small tortoiseshell butterflies flutter over the grass.
There are two playgrounds for children too.
Belfast Castle Estate
A short bus ride north, on the lower slopes of Cave Hill and with spectacular views over the city and Belfast Lough, the Belfast Castle Estate is well worth a visit.The Visitor Centre, in the magnificent Scottish baronial-style castle, has information on wildlife in Cave Hill Country Park nearby. There is also a restaurant and adjacent adventurous playground as well as ample car parking.
The estate itself has a pleasant expanse of garden and woodland with a populous birdlife, including blackbirds, robins, great tits, long-eared owls, sparrowhawks, chaffinches and willow warblers.
Though notoriously shy, badgers and foxes live here, as do hedgehogs and grey squirrels.
Belfast Zoo
Nearby, built into Cave Hill, is the attractive Belfast Zoo. It has become renowned for its conservation policies.Extremely rare species, some extinct in the wild, are part of special breeding programmes here, including the Barbary Lion, Malayan tapir, vicuņa and white-tailed eagle.
Cave Hill Country Park
Over 360 metres above the city, Cave Hill Country Park's 300 hectares contain many different types of habitats, ranging from parkland and broad leaved woodland to meadows and moorland, all rich in wildlife.Birds such as meadow pipits and skylarks can be found hovering over moorland in summer and the cliffs and rock crags provide fertile hunting ground for peregrines, buzzards and kestrels.
Foxes and rabbits also live here and towards dusk the park's population of bats start to emerge. The ringlet, meadow brown and common blue butterflies can be seen over the meadows in summer.
More information
The guide is also available from the Belfast Welcome Centre.Belfast Welcome Centre
47 Donegall Place
Belfast
BT1 5AD
Telephone: 028 9024 6609
Fax: 028 9031 2424
Email: welcomecentre@belfastvisitor.com
