Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
A complicated system of inter-drumlin lakes, basins and islands on the River Erne, County Cavan. Sheltered shores support swamp and marsh habitat and the site also includes adjacent fields which occasionally flood. The site is a southward extension of Upper Lough Erne (UK site 287) in Northern Ireland.
This site is important for its wintering birds. Other species wintering in numbers of national importance are
Podiceps cristatus (40 birds, 1996),
Phalacrocorax carbo (139 birds, 1996),
Cygnus olor (137 birds, 1996) and
Anas penelope (1,544 birds, 1995).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The deepening of drains and excessive use of fertilizer are resulting in nutrient pollution of the lake.
National High
International HighIBA overlaps with Wildfowl Sanctuary (Lough Oughter; area not known). 1,464 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Lough Oughter, 1,464 ha). 1,464 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Lough Oughter, 1,464 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lough Oughter (Ireland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lough-oughter-iba-ireland on 23/11/2024.
