The Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC) will hold a guided walk to Lodge Bog, Co. Kildare this Friday (April 18) in celebration of World Curlew Day 2025.

The walk is the first free public event of the IPCC’s annual Féile an Dúlra, the IPCC’s festival of nature supported by Kildare County Council.

Everyone is encouraged to attend the event at 11:00a.m to learn about the elusive curlew of Lodge Bog, which are one of Ireland’s most threatened birds.

The curlew is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list and has declined in population by 98% since the 1980s.

The curlew is a ground nesting bird, which makes it incredibly vulnerable. It is estimated that approximately 100 breeding pairs remain.

A 2016 report suggested that without intervention, the curlew would be extinct in ten years. The main threats to the curlew are loss of suitable habitat, the fragmentation of habitat, and predation.

Lodge Bog provides an open peatland habitat with an abundance of insects for the curlew to feed on. The IPCC works to conserve such preferred habitats with the help of the local community and volunteers.

The bog is home to 186 different birds, mammals and insects. Along with Curlew, other birds found on the bog include: Meadow Pipit; Kestrel; Common Snipe; and Skylark.

On this week's bog walk, participants will be guided to Lodge Bog from the Bog of Allen Nature Centre, Co. Kildare.

While at the reserve, the IPCC staff will share the story of the curlew on this reserve and discuss its longest running campaign, 'Save the Bog'.

The campaign based in the centre includes peatland site conservation, habitat and species monitoring, peatland policy and education and awareness. Participants will then return to the centre for a cup of tea.