Lake Hornborga

Bird Roost

Hornborgasjön is one of the most famous bird lakes in Sweden. It is located about 15 kilometers southeast of the town of Skara in the Swedish province of Västergötland and is one of Sweden's Ramsar sites.

The now 30 -square-mile lake fell in the late 19th century land reclamation victim. Through several water level reductions of the area was reduced to 4 square kilometers, which eventually boggy in the 1960s. After an extensive restoration, in which the water level was raised by almost a meter, the lake was once again a bird paradise, which is a nature reserve and protected by the international Ramsar Convention today.

The lake has a depth of about two meters and is surrounded by a belt of reeds. He serves migratory birds as a resting place in spring and autumn, but many birds remain at sea and breed there. Among the 100 species of birds that can be observed on the lake, about half are migratory birds, and half breeds in or near the lake. Among the migratory birds, especially the cranes are to be mentioned, staying from mid- March to the end of September on the lake and in the surrounding area and also breed here. Their number can be as high as 10,000.

On the eastern shore (a few kilometers north of the town Broddetorp ) is a bird station with museum and bird observatory ( naturum Hornborga ). On the south shore ( at Bjurum ) is another bird station ( naturum Trandansen ), thousands of cranes can be observed in the spring and autumn.