Countryside Alliance Ireland - love the countryside

For the past six years the Devenish Wildfowlers and Conservation Club have been running a conservation project on Lower Lough Erne.  This involves the construction and installation of nesting tunnels for breeding wildfowl. 

Over recent weeks they have installed a further 33 nesting tunnels, each designed to provide wild ducks with a safe nesting and hatching environment during the breeding season.  The tunnels have proved extremely popular with many being used twice in the same season to rear successive broods of young ducklings.

In recent months the Club has experimented with several different designs, each suggested by wildfowling enthusiasts from the USA, and has now adopted a design which not only suits the wetter weather conditions experienced in the West of the Province, but also allows for quicker maintenance and refurbishment of the Hen-Houses each year, just before the breeding season begins.  

Peter Taylor, Club Chairman commented, “As we install more nesting tunnels each year, refurbishing the existing tunnels is becoming a very time consuming affair.  Ultimately our goal is to provide more nesting opportunities for our resident wildfowl.  A simpler, ‘renovation friendly’ design is essential, especially if we want to increase the number of tunnels being utilised each year”. 

Previously this project has received National Conservation awards, being the first of its kind in the UK.  Early indications show that the new and improved tunnel design is proving to be a big hit with the local wild duck community.   

The breeding season is now getting into full swing and most of the properties are already occupied; who says “large scale, private housing developments just aren’t as popular as they used to be”? 

For further information on the Club and its activities, please contact Nigel Irvine on 07918 608323 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it