Enjoy, learn about, and celebrate Northern Ireland’s nature with us at our Nature Day - a day filled with interactive workshops to introduce you to a whole range of wildlife. We’re bringing together several of NI’s nature organisations to get you hands on with moths, butterflies, plants, birds, and insects through a variety of activities.

Join us to:

• Try out a whole range of nature activities
• Develop your skills in wildlife identification and recording
• Meet other people interested in wildlife
• Explore the wonderful Oxford Island Nature Reserve with enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff and volunteers from NI’s nature organisations

Whether you’ve not done any nature activities before, or you’re looking to develop your wildlife skills, you are most welcome. We’d love for people to learn from each other in a sociable, friendly, and fun environment!

This event is aimed at people of all ages who are interested in learning more about Northern Ireland’s wildlife. Under 18s are most welcome and must be accompanied by an adult, and there will be a session for anyone aged 25 and under!

Timings:
Early birds are welcome to arrive from 7am to take part in the early morning activities, however the main activities will begin at 10am and finish at 4pm. Arrival later than 10am is fine too! There will still be plenty to get involved with. Please see the full programme below.
 
Booking is essential to secure your spot. 

Entry is £15 per person* and £8 for under 18s - this includes registration, tea/coffee, and lunch.

*For those on lower incomes: we have a limited number of tickets available at a price of £10. We want everyone to be able to join us and so for those on lower incomes, including young people aged 18-25 and anyone else for whom the full ticket price would be a barrier, please feel free to choose this option.

To book your place, click the 'book places online' button on the right of this page - the BTO website is sometimes slow so please be patient while subsequent pages load.

Booking closes at midnight on Sunday 31st May.

We’re delighted to be able to subsidise the ticket cost thanks to our NIEA funding.

Public transport:
For those looking to travel by public transport, there are trains or buses to Lurgan, from where we can arrange pick ups and drop offs as it's a 10 minute drive to the venue from there. Please get in touch with us at northern.ireland@bto.org if you would like to arrange this.

Accessibility:
The Lough Neagh Discovery Centre venue is accessible, please find more information on AccessAble. We will have designated befrienders during the event so there will be a friendly face for you to look out for, details will be shared closer to the time. Please do get in touch with us at northern.ireland@bto.org to chat about any accessibility requirements so we can maximise your enjoyment of the day!

Programme

7.00am    Optional morning activities

9.30am    Refreshments

10.00am  Indoor workshop 

11.00am  Outdoor workshops 

12.30pm  Lunch

1.30pm    Indoor workshop

2.00pm    Outdoor workshops

3.30pm    Refreshments

4.00pm    Round up and close

The optional morning activities are a rolling programme of: bird ringing demonstration, nest recording demonstration, exploration of moth trapping, and enjoyment of the dawn chorus on the nature reserve.

The indoor workshops will be led by BTO and Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI).

The outdoor workshops will be led by organisations including BTO, BSBI, Butterfly Conservation, Pollinator Monitoring Programme and the Oxford Island Education Team.