Swanpool

Swanpool is a beautiful idyllic nature reserve situated close to Falmouth town, Cornwall. It consists of a large lake surrounded by trees and shrubs that provide great habitats for a variety of wildlife. On the opposite side of the road is Swanpool beach. When a culvert was built in 1825 between the sea and the fresh water lake at swanpool to lower its water level a unique landscape and habitat was created. The lower water level left a marshland area to the north-west through which six freshwater streams meander. It is a small and densely wooded wetland made up of mostly willow carr that provides shelter for many small birds and mammals. Wet woodland is a rare and valuable type of landscape, epecially so in this case as the willow acts as a filter, removing pollutants from the water before it flows into the main pool. The pool itself, with its unique mix of fresh and salt water became a special and unusualnatural habitat playing host to over 100 species of bird icluding regular visitors such as grebe and tufted ducks, siskins and kingfishers. A good supply of food is provided by the fish and eels that enter the pool through the culvert, the larvae in the mud, and the insects that are harboured in the reed beds at the margins of the pool.


The stars of this ornithological display has always been the swans. They are fiercely territorial and, though the pool used to support many pairs, the current cob and pen guard the lake so ferociously that all incomers, including their offspring, are kept out. Some of my photographs of the wildlife found in th lake are seen below (all images copyright to Abbi Hughes)

The pool's most prized inhabitants are, however, invisible to the naked eye. In the nineties it was discovered that beneath the water lies the the Trembling Sea Mat, a group of primitive microscopic animals called bryozoa which live in underwater colonies and thrive at Swanpool on the balance of salt and fresh water. The Trembling Sea Mat is the only one of its kind in Britain, a fact that has led to the pool being given status as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.


Below are some of the images a took at the beach and surrounding area.

  

Information about Swanpool found at http://www.swanpoolbeach.co.uk/BeachNatureReserve

Other wildlife spotted at the pool:
Swan
Coot
Malard
Orb Web Spider
Hering Gull
Black Headed Gulls
Tufted Duck
Crows
Buzzards

Thank you and hope you enjoy my images.
Abbi

Location : Swanpool beach and lake
Date: 27th Frebruary 2011 (I go regularly)
Time: 10pm - 12pm (varies)
Weather: Southerly warm and strong winds. 
Map Reference: SW795313