Harper’s Island Wetlands Activity Books
Here below are links to download our set of three activity books. These books have been specially produced for children of Primary school age and based around Harper’s Island Wetlands Nature Reserve and its wildlife. All the activities include notes for teachers/parents/guardians. Things to Do at Home or in Class Activity Book is just that, things like crosswords, ‘spot the difference’, art and craft activities, drawing game etc. Things to Do at Harper’s Island Wetlands Activity Book contains lots of fun educational activities that can be done during a visit to the nature reserve such as I Spy, surveys, KWL Charts, Bird and Nature Bingo, Visit Recount Plan, Nature Identification Charts etc. Finally the Environmental Education Games book includes games that can be played in class, at home or at the nature reserve. Games such as The Swallow Game, Find Your Flock, You are the Warden, Wildlife memory Game and more.
Click on the links below to download the books in Irish or English:
Gníomhaíochtaí le déanamh sa bhaile nó sa rang
Rudaí suimiúla le déanamh ag Bogaigh Oileán Harpúraigh
Cluichí Oideachais Timpeallachta
Things to Do in at Home or in Class
Things to Do at Harper’s Island Wetlands Activity Book
The Wader Migration Game
Harper’s Island Wetlands Nature Reserve plays host to thousands of migratory wetland birds, including waders, birds that get their name from their habit of wading in water when hunting for food. They come to the reserve from places as far away as Siberia, Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, arctic Canada and Africa. This is a fun game is designed to teach about the challenges birds face when undertaking their twice yearly migration to and from their breeding and non-breeding grounds. As well as a set of Wader Migration playing cards you can download background notes for teachers or anyone organising the game. It is designed to be played outdoors or in a large room/hall/gym. It can be played by teams or individuals.
Click on the links below to download the game and notes:
Harper’s Island Sand Martins – Links and Resources
Sand Martin Fact-sheet A3 Poster
Harper’s Sand Martins Fact File / Teacher Notes
Video & Audio
Link to current live stream from Sand Martin Burrow 19
Link to current live stream from Sand Martin Burrow 21
Harper’s Island Wetlands Sand Martin Nest Cam 2025 Burrow 19 Live Stream
Harper’s Island Wetlands Sand Martin Nest Cam 2025 Burrow 21 Live Stream
Harper’s Island – The Making of a Nature Reserve. RTE Radio 1 Documentary (March 2025)
Our Sand Martin Nest Cam Setup Manual (May 2024)
Harper’s Island Wetlands – The making of a Nature Reserve (2021)
Harper’s Island Wetlands – An Introduction (2020)
Planting Trees for Harper’s Island Woodland Habitat (2019)
New Horizons for Nature: Harper’s Island (2019)
Black-tailed Godwit Life History – Excellent Short Animated Cartoon (2018)
Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits at Harper’s Island (2010)
Publications
Best High Tide Times for watching Wetland Birds – 2025: High tide is the best time to come and look for wetland birds on the reserve. This pdf guide will help you find the best days and times to visit to see them with ok/good/best dates highlighted.
Download here: Best High Tide Times for watching Wetland Birds – 2025
Harper’s Island Wetlands Conservation Management Plan 2020-2024: We have developed a conservation management plan for Harper’s Island Wetlands which will guide our conservation work on the island for the next five years.
Harper’s Island Wetlands Bird Identification Guide: We have put together a downloadable pdf. It gives a short introduction to the wetland birds of Harper’s Island and has images and descriptions of the birds you are likely to see on a visit to the Wetlands. It is for personal use only and the information in the guide may not be copied or used elsewhere without permission.
Download here: Harper’s Island Wetlands Bird Identification Guide
Harper’s Island Wetlands Bird Checklist (2021): This is a checklist of all the birds seen at Harper’s Island Wetlands since 1990. It includes graphic information showing when is the best time to see any particular species. It also lists all records of the birds only rarely seen on the reserve.
Download here: Harper’s Island Wetlands Bird Checklist
Harper’s Island Wetlands Butterfly Identification Guide: This is a pdf identification guide to the butterflies that have been recorded at Harper’s Island Wetlands.
Download here: Harper’s Island Wetlands Butterfly Identification Guide (2021)
‘Harper’s Island Wetlands – Its History & Wildlife’ Booklet (2021): This booklet covers the history of Harper’s Island from Anglo-Norman times to the present day, the history of the Harper’s Island Wetlands project and an overview of the wildlife of Harper’s Island.
Download here: Harper’s Island Wetlands – Its History & Wildlife
Harper’s Island Wetlands Map
Download here: Harper’s Island Wetlands Map
Harper’s Island Artificial Sand Martin Nesting Bank Construction Manual: A step by step guide to building our hugely successful artificial nesting bank for Sand Martins. All 24 nesting burrows were occupied in the first year.
Download here: Harper’s Island Artificial Sand Martin Nesting Bank Construction Manual
Just One Leg to Stand On – Do varying weather conditions affect the energy conservation of roosting birds? This is the winning project in the Biological & Ecological Sciences- Intermediate Group Category of the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2024
Download here: Just One Leg to Stand On (2024)
Harper’s Island Sand Martin Breeding Season Report 2023: A report on our very successful breeding season in the artificial nesting bank on the reserve.
Download here: Harper’s Island Sand Martin Breeding Season Report (2023)
Harper’s Island Wetlands Aquatic Fauna Survey Report (2022): This report, funded by the Heritage Council and carried out by ecologist Geoff Oliver, is an in-depth survey of the aquatic fauna to be found on the nature reserve. The survey discovered a species of beetle never before recorded in Ireland.
Download here: Harper’s Island Wetlands Aquatic Fauna Survey (2022)
Harper’s Island Wetlands Dry Grassland Botanical Survey Report (2021): This report, funded by the Heritage Council and carried out by Blackthorn Ecology, is an in-depth survey of the plants growing within the looped section of our nature trail at the southern end of the reserve. If you want to know more about the beautiful flowers and grasses that grow there this is for you.
Download here: Harper’s Island Wetlands Dry Grassland Survey (2021)
Harper’s Island Wetlands Benthic Faunal and Biomass Assessment – Autumn 2020: This is a report on the Benthic fauna of the wetlands at HIW. This report presents a valuable baseline study that will inform future conservation actions.
Download here: Benthic Faunal and Biomass Assessment of Harper’s Island Wetlands –(Autumn 2020)
Harper’s Island Wetlands Butterfly & Moth Survey (2020): This is a report on the butterflies and moths to be found at Harper’s Island Wetlands and contains the results of a survey of the moths during 2019/20.
Download here: Harper’s Island Wetlands Butterfly & Moth Survey (2020)
Harper’s Island Farmhouse Bat Survey 2018/19: An excellent report by Dr. Isobel Abbott of Abbott Ecology on the bats of Harper’s Island using the old Farmhouse building.
Download here: Harper’s Island Farmhouse Bat Survey 2018/19
Harper’s Island Botanical Survey (2018): This report presents the results of a walkover botanical survey of the saltmarsh and wet grassland zones in the Harper’s Island Wetlands, which Tom Gittings carried out in August-September 2018.
Download here: Botanical Survey of Saltmarsh and Wet Grassland Zones (2018)
