Overview
From October, up to 10,000 Greenland white-fronted geese – roughly a third of the entire world population – drop onto the North Slob outside Wexford town and stay until spring. The reserve exists to protect them. It sits on reclaimed farmland and brackish channels two metres below sea level, a low, wet patchwork of grassland, cultivated fields, reed-lined ponds and a shallow harbour channel that gives Arctic-breeding birds safe ground to feed and roost.
Managed jointly by the National Parks & Wildlife Service and BirdWatch Ireland, the roughly 200-hectare reserve – about a quarter of the North Slob – is part of the wider Wexford Slobs and Harbour Special Protection Area, and carries Ramsar and Natura 2000 status on top of that. It is free, and if you come for one thing, come for the geese, in winter: outside October to April the Slob is mostly quiet farmland.
A landscape reclaimed from the sea
The land has a hard history. In the 1840s the North Slob was walled off from the tidal mudflats and drained as a famine-relief scheme, turning marsh into arable fields; because much of it lies below the tideline, rainwater still has to be pumped off the land, from a pump near the visitor centre. By 1969 its value to wildlife was recognised, and the reserve took its modern shape after an expansion in 1989.
Today it holds several layers of protection – Ramsar wetland, Special Protection Area under the EU Birds Directive, and Natura 2000 – with BirdWatch Ireland and the state sharing day-to-day management, habitat work and education. The job is to hold the balance between working farmland and wildlife refuge.
What you’ll see
Over 250 bird species have been recorded here, with numbers peaking in winter. The headline is the Greenland white-fronted goose: between October and April, 8,000 to 10,000 of them feed on the Slob, about a third of the world’s population. They share the grasslands with Light-bellied Brent and Bean geese, while the channel and reed-lined ponds draw Bewick’s and Whooper swans and, among the waders, the Icelandic black-tailed godwit alongside curlew and redshank. Raptors are less frequent, though rare visitors have been logged over the years. Beyond the birds, the surrounding townlands are protected habitat for hares.
What to do
The reserve is built for close viewing without spooking the birds. The 8-metre observation tower is wheelchair-accessible and gives a wide sweep over the sloblands – the best single vantage point. Three hides are dotted around: the Pat Walsh Hide on the sea wall, about a kilometre before the centre, looking over the channel; the Pump House Hide near the car park, framing the channel and the open sea; and the Robert Jobson Hide, which overlooks a reed-lined pond inside the visitor enclosure and is the quiet one. A further hide is under construction.
The visitor centre is the place to start, with audio-visual displays and exhibitions. There is a small wildfowl pond beside it, though staff stopped feeding the ducks in 2015 to keep vermin down, so it is calmer than it once was. Free guided tours run on weekdays at 3pm from March to December – no booking, and binoculars to borrow if you have none. Through the year the reserve runs family events like the February Bioblitz, a Halloween nature hunt and January’s Garden Bird Day, and as one of eight NPWS education centres it takes school groups.
Practical information
- Opening hours: daily 9am to 5pm, closed Christmas Day. The car park and gates are locked at 5pm sharp, so do not leave it late.
- Admission: free, though donations go towards the conservation work.
- Parking and facilities: free on-site parking during opening hours; the visitor centre and main paths are wheelchair-accessible, with accessible toilets.
- Dogs: not allowed, guide dogs excepted, to protect the birds. Grazing animals are on the land at times, so keep to the marked trails.
- What to bring: waterproofs and sturdy footwear – the ground is damp and the wind comes off the harbour hard. Bring your own binoculars, and aim for early morning or late afternoon, when the light is soft and the birds are busiest.
- Contact: (01) 539 3460 | wwreducation@npws.gov.ie
Getting there and nearby
The reserve is a short drive from Wexford town: cross the bridge onto the R741, and after a couple of kilometres turn right at the signed junction (just past Bates Oil) and carry on to the car park and visitor centre. Public transport is limited, so a car is the realistic option.
With extra time, the Raven Nature Reserve a short drive north is a quiet pine-forest walk on old sand dunes, and Curracloe Beach and the Irish National Heritage Park are both close by. The shoreline across the road from the reserve is good for gulls and waders.