Why do we call ourselves an eco campsite? Does eco mean ‘green’? What is ‘green’?

From our perspective, it means that we try to be kind to nature, to encourage wildness, to provide habitats for wild creatures and to encourage our visitors to do the same.

We live on a small peninsula with a Special Area of Conservation to the South, and a number of Special Areas of Conservation to the North. We are acutely aware of the biodiversity loss… biodiversity meaning the rich web of nature consisting of the tiniest little plant or insect up to the largest Whales in our oceans.

Nature is not there to be tamed, but to be admired. How can we do that? well, we are constantly trying to find ways to do that.

Conserve and Protect

We manage a 10 acre native woodland here providing a small number of pitches within the emerging nature reserve. Kevin keeps the trails clear and they are well defined with hand crafted wooden trail markers. We keep another approx 10acres wild and we know by the ‘runs’ created by foxes and badgers, that this is an important habitat for them. Snipe and Woodcock and more recently Water Rail use our rushy land to bed down and our reed bed and willow marsh surely hosts a multitude of creatures yet to be discovered.

Keeping things natural rather than manicured

We do try to give a good example in our management of the site here. We keep things wild and have an abundance of wild flowers from Spring to September with a host of insects, bees and hoverflies. We don’t use weedkiller. Yes it would make things so much easier and the place would look so much tidier. But… it would be a lot less interesting.

Raise awareness/Educate

We try to run an intimate camp site here where we get to spend time with people during their stay and have open discussions about the practicalities of trying to be a bit more eco conscious. Knowledge is a 2-way street. We learn so much from our guests.

Waste – Water – Energy

The key here is less…. produce less waste, use less water and energy. We capture water in rain water harvesting tanks that work quite well for flushing our toilets. Our big ‘shed’ and toilet block has a raft of solar tubes converting the suns heat into warm water for showers. We have separate bins for waste including compost and encourage guests to be very waste conscious when disposing of rubbish.

A Celebration of the Pine Marten

12 Days of Christmas - 2022 Day 9: A Celebration of the Pine Marten A pine marten minute to enjoy. We've had only a few clips of the pine marten in the last couple of years. It's always exciting to get a brief view into the mysterious world of the elusive pine marten....

A day in the life of the undergrowth

12 Days of Christmas - 2022 Day 8: A day in the life of the undergrowth This is from a couple of years ago, but I still remember reviewing the footage from the SD card. 🙂 Early in the day we see a little water rail. Later in the evening the secretive pine marten comes...

Badger Wrestlers

12 Days of Christmas - 2022 Day 7: Badger Wrestlers We do see badgers occasionally passing by our trail cameras. Typically they are on their way from A to B, without much to report. Occasionally, we get to see them dig for worms as they go, or even sprint off when...

Great Tit

12 Days of Christmas - 2022 Day 6: Great Tit It's mid-April 2022, just before we open up fully and I put a camera on a dead leveret that I'd found. I was hoping for an opportunist fox, or pine marten, to visit so I could see what might happen. What I didn't expect to...

The Irish Stoat

12 Days of Christmas - 2022 Day 5: The Irish Stoat We've only twice captured a stoat on our trail cameras. The first time we saw one, it was in full chase of a rat. It was all over fairly quickly (Stoat 1 : Rat 0). This time the stoat was on its own looking over a...

The Elusive Water Rail

12 Days of Christmas - 2022 Day 4: The Elusive Water Rail You can't imagine the excitement we felt when we saw that we'd caught a water rail on one of our trail cameras. This secretive amber-listed bird is heard more often than seen (said to sound like a squealing pig...

A Busy Redwing

12 Days of Christmas - 2022 Day 3: A Busy Redwing Loads of redwing thrushes in the Purecamping woods in Winter 20022! 🙂 A common, but welcome winter visitor from the North. Birdwatch Ireland has them favouring open fields, but our woods seem to be just as attractive....

A Wonderful Woodcock

12 Days of Christmas - 2022 Day 2: A Wonderful Woodcock The fantastically camouflaged woodcock in the Purecamping woods. Talk about a beautiful bird! Check out the variety of colours in the plumage! Now with a Red conservation status in Ireland due a decline in the...

A Solstice Fox

12 Days of Christmas - 2022 Day 1: A Solstice Fox As we enjoy our Christmas fare, spare a thought for all our wildlife. Daytime sightings of the Fantastic Mr. Fox are rare, but Winter hardship can force daylight foraging. Just think about their challenge of waking...

The 12 birds of Christmas 2021

#1 Santa's robin, a favourite for many. This robin was in the bushes waiting for an opportunity to collect the crumbs left by the other birds on the feeder. #2 Goldfinch - Lasair choille (Wood or Forest Flame) Easy to see where it got its name. This confident little...

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