Discover Our Wetlands

Please read our Nature Blog about everything from birds to bees. 

Wings of the Wetland: The Life of the Emperor Dragonfly

published 6 August 2025.

Anax imperator | Emperor Dragonfly | Impire Gorm The Emperor dragonfly is a type of hawker dragonfly, all hawker dragonfly are very large, this makes them easily recognisable. The Emperor dragonfly is a beautiful metallic electric blue colour (very...

Exploring Wetlands Wonders: Ponds & Amphibians

published 19 March 2025.

Ponds are a hotspot for Biodiversity and can be either permanent or seasonal. It is not just the pond that is important for wildlife, the surrounding vegetation is an essential element of this habitat. Ponds, vital wetland ecosystems, have faced...

Transform Your Garden into a Winter Bird Paradise

published 15 December 2024.

Bird feeders are the quickest way for anyone to attract birds to their gardens this winter. They are a great supplement, but if you want to be sustainable, plant trees or let the grass grow slightly taller than usual. Most of our lawns are void of...

Heron - A mysterious fisherman of the wetlands, rivers and lakes

published 29 September 2024.

Irish Name - Corr réisc - Name - Grey Heron - Latin - Ardea cinerea Heron – A mysterious fisherman of the wetlands, rivers and lakes. Have you walked along a riverbank or a lake edge and in the corner of your eye seen a slight movement? Did you...

Bee Surveys - May & June 2024

published 18 July 2024.

During the months of May and June this year, Alan Balfe and Darragh Hennessy have spent time doing various bee surveys at Tralee Bay Wetlands Ecology Park. Pollinators play a vital role in our economy and the success of our food chain. Ireland's...

Pond Dipping: A Nature Lover's Guide

published 20 June 2024.

Introduction Pond dipping is a fun and educational outdoor activity that invites nature enthusiasts of all ages to explore the fascinating world beneath the water's surface. Whether you're an avid biologist or just looking for a family-friendly...

Swans and their Cygnets

published 3 May 2024.

In the Tralee Bay Wetlands Ecology & Lakeside Cafe you can find a pair of Mute Swans (Cygnus olor), who mostly stay on the front pond island. A well-known bird of wetland habitats, they can be found all over Ireland in ponds, rivers, lakes and...

Work Experience Blog

published 28 November 2023.

Hi, my name is Darragh Hennessy and over the course of the summer, I've been working at Tralee Bay Wetlands. During my time I have met some incredible people and honed in on many skills to help me in my future career on the ecological front of...

Year of the Dragonfly

published 23 June 2022.

Tralee Bay Wetlands Eco & Activity Park will continue to host talks and events for the Year of the Dragonfly, focusing on the conservation issues surrounding these enigmatic insects, and what individuals and community groups can do to protect them....

Rewilding your Garden

published 1 June 2022.

We all want to help in encouraging our native wildlife such as butterflies and bees back to our gardens. But how can we do that? We can plant flowers, but what kind? We can place bird feeders, but what kind would suit garden birds? What’s the best...

Please view below our Spotter Sheets and Colouring Sheets which you download for your personal use.

Welcome to our podcasts with Alan Balfe, Wildlife and Education Officer at Tralee Bay Wetlands Eco & Activity Park. Our podcast talks about our wonderful Wetlands as they are highly important for wildlife and they come in a variety of different types.

Replay Series started 1st May 2022. Our next replay episode will be Sunday, 8th May. Brand New Nature Podcasts coming soon!

The Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre offers an interactive wildlife exhibition, 20-metre viewing tower, bird hides and nature boardwalk.

Global biodiversity is under threat due to negative human interactions. Here at the Wetlands, we hope to be a showcase on how people can change behaviour to have a positive impact on the environment. Since 2019 we have began to aggressively change the monoculture of lawn into a diversity of microhabitats.

We hope that you will all visit and inspect what we are hoping to do here and keep an eye on this page as we will be adding more and more pictures of the changes that happen as these habitats grow and mature. From our projects, we hope that our visitors will take the initiative to start their own projects to enhance their own gardens, parks and towns.

Below are our Biodiversity Projects that we are working on to enhance the parks biodiversity and the future.