Bird Paradise

Two large wetland habitats in the south-west of the county are a haven for birds which fly in now to overwinter in the area. Louise Sleeman, Herts and Middlesex  Wildlife Trust people and wildlife officer, gives a guide to what to see and outlines a project to make the region even better for wildlife and nature lovers

COLNE Valley Regional Park, running from the south-west of the county down to Egham in Surrey, covers over 40 square miles and is a mosaic of farmland, woodland and water with 200 miles of river and canal and more than 60 lakes. Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust manages two Affinity Water owned sites in the valley – Springwell Reedbed and Stocker’s Lake, both in Rickmansworth. The two nature reserves are a vital part of the wider landscape, their proximity to London offering wildlife a valuable refuge in an otherwise crowded and urban space.

Springwell is the largest reed bed in the area and the wetland provides an important undisturbed refuge for wildlife in this built-up part of the Colne Valley. The reserve makes up six per cent of the wider London area’s reed beds and is a natural filter - it absorbs pollution from water as it grows and improves water quality in the Colne Valley. The most abundant plant on this reserve, the common reed, provides homes to wildlife such as harvest mice who weave their nests around the stalks. Hidden in the dense vegetation are reed warblers in the summer and water rails in winter. Moorhens breed here and bats fly overhead, hunting for moths over the reeds.