Around The Mere

I visit Fowlmere Nature Reserve fairly regularly - far more often than gets recorded on this blog anyway - and have been doing so, on and off, for the last 25 years, since I first came to live just a few miles away from it. I've shown you some pretty pictures of it over the years but this time I thought I'd give you more of a guide to the walk around. With luck some of the photos will be attractive too!

Having driven, or cycled or walked, along the single-track-with-passing-places road and found the entrance you'll see two little wooden huts. These are ambitiously known as the Visitor Centre and sometimes there'll be someone there to welcome you. The one on the left is the new one which has recently been added. There's always a hand-written list in the window of what's been spotted during the last month.

If you turn left you'll pass through some scrubby trees before you encounter the boardwalk, which also provides a convenient place for youngsters to go pond-dipping. (Can grown-up people go pond-dipping? I've never seen anyone doing so).

At the end of the boardwalk the trees and reeds conspire to make a beautiful scene with a slightly oriental feel, especially on cold, misty mornings. There are several alder trees here and in winter you may find flocks of Siskins and perhaps a few Redpolls feeding high up in the twiggy branches.

Just on the left is the Spring Hide (Spring as in water coming to the surface) where you can sit quietly and watch the birds - if they are in a co-operative mood!

Even if they are not it's a lovely place to sit anyway. The dead branch sticking up at a 45 degree angle near the middle of the photo is a favourite perch for Kingfishers - that's why it's been put there - but you need either patience or else luck to see one.

The path leads on past a tree fitted with a nest-box for owls which is often occupied by Barn Owls and there's a conveniently placed bench too.

On the left there's a rough meadow which, though it's not part of the reserve, is always worth scanning with the binoculars. Fallow Deer are often seen here and can crop up anywhere in the area, as can the little Muntjac Deer.

Further along there's a small building which is called the Watercress Hut, because that's what the mere was once used for - growing watercress commercially. 

From here there's an extra little loop that takes you into an intriguing bit of land which is wooded and threaded by small streams. It's an excellent area to find some of the less conspicuous small birds - Wrens, Goldcrest, Tree Creeper, Bullfinch and so on.

If you follow the path to the edge of the reserve you'll find a small spring, an area of reeds  and, rather unexpectedly, a picnic table!

Having made your way back to the main trail around the reserve you can begin the walk up the far side of the reserve. There are lots of bushes bearing berries which are popular with the visiting winter thrushes, and the path also follows alongside a clear chalk stream where brown trout can sometimes be seen.

I couldn't find any fish for you today but did find a place where the sun was glancing off the ripples just so and showing the clarity of the water.

We turn away from the stream now and go through more trees and past this extraordinarily contorted lump of wood which seems to be the remains of a tree which was uprooted years ago.

The view above can be had from the Drewer Hide, named in memory of "Carl Drewer 1970-1985, who loved nature all his life". Appropriately this is a hide specifically designed for young people.

The walking is all very easy and in fact the whole circuit is now wheelchair accessible, I've helped young people (and my mum) to go around in their chairs on many occasions - though, come to think about it, I also pushed one rather adventurous young man around before it was made accessible! 

Before you know it we're back at the start and here's a five-star bug hotel constructed by the Young Wildlife Explorers. But where is this mere, John?

In two or three places as you wander around you can spot the Reedbed Hide, which is reached by a short path and stands on stilts in the middle of the 41 hectare (100acre) reserve, overlooking the main body of water.

Today, apart from one Snipe and a couple of Mallards, there was hardly anything to be seen but there is a large picture in the hide of what you might see if you're fortunate....

I've seen all the birds illustrated here at one time or another, you just have to keep coming back regularly - and not spend too much time taking photographs!

Take care.