Manx Wildlife
| The Curraghs Wildlife Park has been developed adjacent to the Ballaugh curraghs in the north of the Isle of Man. This is the most important wildlife conservation site on the island and most of it is protected by virtue of ownership by Manx National Heritage and the Manx Wildlife Trust. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has also recently declared it to be an Area of Special Scientific Interest including 5 hectares owned and managed by the Wildlife Park. This contains most of the principal habitats that can be seen in the wider curraghs (a Manx word for wet, boggy woodland). Visitors are able to see something of these, and gain a deeper understanding of the curraghs, from our interpretation boards along our nature trail. Hen harriers use the area in winter for their communal roost, which at times contains over 100 birds, the largest such roost in western Europe. Elsewhere in the north, wintering parties of whooper swans may be seen, with a maximum count of over 60 swans. Other birds of note in the Isle of Man include ravens and peregrines, which both appear on the Government crest, and the red-legged king of the crows - the chough - a charismatic bird of western coasts which is growing in numbers on the Isle of Man, in contrast to the other limited parts of the British Isles where it occurs. |  Aerial View | |||
 Hen Harrier (courtesy iombirding.co.uk) | ||||
| Around the coasts may be seen seals and whales, dolphins and porpoises while in summer basking sharks cruise the surface waters. Within the Wildlife Park, characteristic woodland birds such as tree sparrow, long-tailed tit and tree creeper may be seen with redpolls along the nature trail - which is also a good place to spot common lizards, the only reptile native to the Isle of Man | ||||
| Wild flowers of note within the Wildlife Park include three or four species of orchid, royal fern, sundew and the introduced New Zealand flax, while elsewhere on the Island may be seen the Isle of Man cabbage - still growing on the same beach as when it was first described by the English botanist, John Ray, in 1660. | ||||
| There are about 18 species of butterflies in the Island and 250 species of moths. Most of the likely butterflies can be seen along our Butterfly Trail, a specially managed track through the curraghs planted with nectar plants for the adults and food plants for the caterpillars. | ||||
| To find out more about the Isle of Man and its wildlife, try these sites (some are external links): | ||||
| To find out more about visiting the Isle of Man, start here: http://www.gov.im/tourism/ | ||||
 Countryside and wildlife  Basking shark |  Bird records  Birdwatching  Manx National Heritage sites  Manx Wildlife Trust reserves |  Laxey Wheel, one of the many fine sights on the Isle of Man | ||
| Detailed pages on birdwatching localities here | Tour operators and carriers | |||
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