Portmore Lough

We are working hard to make our nature reserves safe and ready for our staff, visitors and wildlife. Many have now re-opened in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, although some facilities such as toilets are not yet available. All our other reserves remain closed for now. Please see our COVID-19 updates page for the latest information (link below).

Address: RSPB Portmore Lough Nature Reserve, George's Island Rd, Gawley's Gate, Aghalee, Co. Antrim BT67 0DW

Grid ref: NW222280

See our updates page to see which reserves are open.

This lowland, wet-grassland reserve boasts an open view across the Lough that takes in the wider landscape. It's a family-friendly, quiet retreat with seasonal wildlife spectacles - butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies in summer; greylag geese, whooper swans and thousands of ducks in winter.

Plan your visit

Open every day.

Car park open 9am – 5pm. When the car park gates are closed, please park
outside the gates.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: Free

Children: Free

Facilities

Visitor centre
Car park
Toilets
Accessible toilets
Picnic area
Binocular hire
Guided walks
Viewing point
Nature trails
Educational facilities

Accessibility

How to get here

By road

The reserve is signposted from Aghalee village. Despite other, more direct, routes, the following method is recommended for first time visitors.

From the M1 motorway come off at Junction 9, Moira roundabout, and head up the A26 towards the International Airport and Antrim. Go under the railway bridge and pass the Glenavy Road Service Station on the right. Take the second road on the left. It is signposted to the village of Aghalee. This is the Soldierstown Road. Stay on this road to the village of Aghalee. The reserve is signposted from Aghalee. Follow the road until a T-junction at Gawley’s Gate pub, turn right onto Derryola Bridge Road and drive for 1 mile. The reserve is signposted off the George’s Island Road.

Sat Nav postcode: BT67 0DW.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Get directions from Google Maps

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

We are happy to arrange guided walks or talks for groups of eight people or more. Please contact the warden on 028 9265 1936 to discuss your requirements.

School groups are welcome here - pond dipping, bug hunting and guided walks are our speciality. Normally the warden leads these activities. Please contact the warden in advance on 028 9265 1936 to discuss your requirements.

14 degrees, Cloudy

Contact Portmore Lough

RSPB Portmore Lough Nature Reserve, George's Island Rd, Gawley's Gate, Aghalee, Co. Antrim BT67 0DW
Laura.Smith@rspb.org.uk
028 9265 1936

What will you see?

Our star species

Common tern

Watch common terns raise their chicks on the nesting rafts on the lough during spring and summer.

Great crested grebe

Watch the amazing courtship ritual of great crested grebes on the open water in spring.

Lapwing

See lapwing perform their acrobatic breeding displays over the meadows in the spring. Huge numbers also gather here in late winter.

Tree sparrow

Tree sparrows can be seen at the bird feeding garden alongside the commoner birds.

Whooper swan

Whooper swans arrive here in October from Iceland, where they spend the winter, and stay until early April.

Nature spectacles

Portmore Lough is a fantastic place to visit at any time of year. The range of wetland habitats provide a home for a wide variety of wildlife. In spring, lapwing can be seen displaying over the wet grassland, whilst skylarks sing from high overhead. Butterflies and dragonflies dart along the path to the hide, and ragged robin and loosestrifes in the meadows in summer. The raucous noise of the common tern colony can be heard from the lough, as the terns busy themselves raising their young on the nesting rafts.

Autumn brings lots of wildfowl, coot, pochard and tufted ducks gather in large rafts on the lough. Raptors, including marsh and hen harrier can often be seen hunting over the reedbed at this time of year. Whooper swans and greylag geese arrive from Iceland in October to overwinter at the reserve until April. In late winter, huge swirling flocks of lapwing and golden plover fly over the flooded meadows, a wonderful spectacle on a cold winter’s day.

Displaying lapwings in the field herald the start of the breeding season while meadow pipits and skylarks sing overhead. On the lough, ducks and great crested grebes display to already established mates before disappearing into the reedbed to breed.

The hay meadows attract a bewildering variety of butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. Young broods of warblers and tree sparrows emerge and wildfowl congregate to moult their flight feathers.

Swallows and martins congregate prior to heading south. Marsh harrier can be seen patrolling the reedbed, with juvenile buzzards calling.

Large flocks of swans, geese, golden plovers and lapwings congregate on the flooded meadows. On the lough, pochard and tufted duck numbers are at their peak. Look out for the occasional scaup and goldeneye coming from Lough Neagh.

About Portmore Lough

Habitat

The reserve has a variety of different habitats, including a freshwater lough, surrounded by large reedbed, fen, wet woodlands, and a substantial area of wet grassland which is managed for breeding wading birds such as lapwing and snipe. The grassland below the viewing platform is managed as a species rich wet meadow for wildflowers.

Conservation

Portmore Lough is now being managed as a key recovery area for lapwing and other breeding wading birds in Northern Ireland.

158 hectares of open water meets 34 hectares of reedbed and 15 hectares of fen before flooding out onto 73 hectares of wet grassland. This mosaic of wetland habitats provides perfect opportunities for the survival of breeding lapwing, snipe, redshank and Irish Hare. It also provides an ideal home for Irish lady's tresses orchids and a wide range of plants and bird life.

Our supporters are:

Northern Ireland Environment Agency
Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs
Northern Ireland Tourist Board under the Tourism Development Scheme
Southern Organisation for Action in Rural Areas (SOAR) under the NI Rural Development Programme
Biffa Award
Ulster Garden Villages
Alpha Programme administered and managed by Groundwork NI
Heritage Lottery Fund, through the Lough Neagh Landscape Partnership Scheme led by the Lough Neagh Partnership.

Site information

Portmore Lough is designated ASSI, SPA, Ramsar and Local Nature Reserve for wintering wildfowl, terrestrial invertebrates, common terns and breeding waders.

Activities and events

Activities for children and families

We run a variety of events on the reserve throughout the year, ranging
from wildlife photography days and guided walks, to family nature scavenger
trails.

Marshside

Lytchett Fields

Arne

Portmore Lough