Lemsford Springs is a 4 hectare nature reserve in

Lemsford Lemsford is a village and parish in Hertfordshire, England. It is near Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield and is in the Hatfield Villages Ward of the Welwyn Hatfield, Borough of Welwyn/Hatfield. Lemsford Springs is a small ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England. It is managed by the

Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust manages over 40 nature reserves covering nearly north of London, in Hertfordshire and the historic county of Middlesex, part of which is divided between the London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield, Harrow and Hill ...

, which purchased the site in 1970. Notable for its lagoons, the site is in the

Lea valley The Lea Valley, the valley of the River Lea, has been used as a transport corridor, a source of sand and gravel, an industrial area, a water supply for London, and a recreational area. The London 2012 Summer Olympics were based in Stratford, in ...

and its other habitats are meadow, hedgerows, marsh and willow woodland. Before becoming a nature reserve, the site was used as a

watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf ve ...

bed. Its lagoons are fed by springs, so they never freeze over and provide an important habitat for birds in cold winters. There are two

bird hide A bird hide (blind or bird blind in North America) is a shelter, often camouflaged, that is used to observe wildlife, especially birds, at close quarters. Although hides or hunting blinds were once built chiefly as hunting aids, they are now commo ...

s, and birds which can be seen include

water rail The water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this species is a permanent resident in the war ...

snipe A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/camouflaging plumage. The ''Gallinago'' snipes have a near ...

and

green sandpiper The green sandpiper (''Tringa ochropus'') is a small wader (shorebird) of the Old World. The green sandpiper represents an ancient lineage of the genus ''Tringa''; its only close living relative is the solitary sandpiper (''T. solitaria''). They ...

s. Green sandpipers are migratory; a colour ringing project has revealed information about the travels of the Lemsford population including their breeding sites in Scandinavia.Smith K W (2002) Green sandpiper in The Migration Atlas: movements of the birds of Britain and Ireland. Wernham C V, Toms M P, Marchant J H, Clark J A, Siriwardena G M & Baillie S R. (eds). T & A D Poyser, London. There are also

water shrew Water shrew may refer to any of several species of semiaquatic red-toothed shrews: *Asiatic water shrews ('' Chimarrogale'' spp.) ** Malayan water shrew (''C. hantu'') ** Himalayan water shrew (''C. himalayica'') ** Sunda water shrew (''C. phaeura'' ...

s and around fifty species of water snails. The reserve is kept locked and access can be arranged with the Wildlife Trust warden.

References

External links

Lemsford Springs leaflet, Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust
{{coord, 51.796447, -0.22866, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust reserves Protected areas established in 1970 Welwyn Hatfield

See also

References

External links