| Hosehill Lake | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Type | Local Nature Reserve |
| Location | Reading, Berkshire |
| OS grid | SU 649 696 |
| Area | 23.6 hectares (58 acres) |
| Managed by | Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust |
Hosehill Lake is a 23.6-hectare (58-acre) Local Nature Reserve west of Reading in Berkshire. It is owned by West Berkshire Council and managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. [1] [2] [3]
To the east and south of the lake is meadowland. [3] The eastern meadow is cut and then grazed by wild Exmoor ponies for a short period in the spring and autumn, and the south meadow is a butterfly meadow. [3]
The site features a one-mile circular walk around the lake. [4]
Hosehill Lake was given its nature reserve status in 1997 by Newbury District Council. [5] Since it became a nature reserve, an island has been created in the lake, along with Tern Rafts, a Sand Martin Bank and the Butterfly Meadow.
In 2013 the management of the nature reserve was transferred from West Berkshire Council to the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. [6]
The site has seen 168 different bird species. [1] Some of the more common birds seen are listed here: [5] [1] [3]
The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), is a wildlife trust covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in England.
Thatcham Reed Beds is a 67.4-hectare (167-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Newbury in Berkshire. It is part of the Kennet & Lambourn Floodplain Special Area of Conservation and an area of 14 hectares is a Local Nature Reserve. An area of 35 hectares is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Bowdown and Chamberhouse Woods is a 67.9-hectare (168-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Thatcham in Berkshire. An area of 55 hectares is a nature reserve managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Bix Bottom is a 102.3-hectare (253-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. It is owned and managed as Warburg Nature Reserve by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Chimney Meadows is a 49.6-hectare (123-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Abingdon-on-Thames and Faringdon in Oxfordshire. It is also a national nature reserve, and part of the 308-hectare (760-acre) Chimney Meadows nature reserve, which is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Greenham and Crookham Commons are two adjoining public park areas of 280.5-hectare (693-acre) common land designated as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the civil parishes of Greenham and Thatcham, on the southern outskirts of Newbury in the English county of Berkshire.
Bacombe and Coombe Hills is a 76.4 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Upper Bacombe in Buckinghamshire. Bacombe Hill was formerly owned by Buckinghamshire County Council, which transferred it to Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust in 2014. Coombe Hill is owned by the National Trust.
College Lake is a 65 hectare nature reserve in a former chalk quarry in Pitstone in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire. It is one of the flagship reserves of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, and it has an information centre, education facilities, a café, toilets and a shop. It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The area east of the lake is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest called Pitstone Quarry.
Bernwood Meadows is a 7.5 hectare nature reserve near Oakley in Buckinghamshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Calvert Jubilee is a 22 hectares nature reserve in Calvert near Steeple Claydon in Buckinghamshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). In July 2020, High Speed 2 (HS2) announced it would take possession of 20% of the reserve and clear it.
Rushbeds Wood is a 56 hectare nature reserve near Wotton Underwood in Buckinghamshire, managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). It is a surviving fragment of the ancient Bernwood Forest. The reserve is part of Rushbeds Wood and Railway Cutting, an 80.2 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. This includes a section of the Chiltern Main Line railway cutting, which runs along the north-east side of the BBOWT reserve.
Yoesden, often known as Yoesden Bank, is a 13-hectare (32-acre) nature reserve in Bledlow Ridge in Buckinghamshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Padworth Common Local Nature Reserve is a 28-hectare (69-acre) Local Nature Reserve on the edge of the hamlet of Padworth Common, between Reading and Newbury in Berkshire. It is owned by West Berkshire Council and managed by Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Rack Marsh is a 4-hectare (9.9-acre) nature reserve in Bagnor, on the north-western outskirts of Newbury in Berkshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. It is part of Kennet and Lambourn Floodplain, which is a Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, and a Nature Conservation Review site. It is also part of the Kennet and Lambourn Floodplain Special Area of Conservation.
Sole Common Pond is a 3-hectare (7.4-acre) nature reserve south-west of Boxford in Berkshire in Berkshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Audrey's Meadow is a 2-hectare (4.9-acre) nature reserve in Newbury in Berkshire. It is owned by West Berkshire Council and managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Blenheim Farm is a 1-hectare (2.5-acre) nature reserve near Charlbury in Oxfordshire. It is owned and managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.