The lake is mesotrophic, which means that it has a moderate amount of nutrients derived from rain, air and the surrounding land.
Although access to the reserve is limited to one small area of the lakeshore, visitors are usually rewarded with sightings of duck, waders and a range of water loving plants.
In winter flotillas of wigeon and pochard and occasionally a diving goosander can be seen. Mammals present on the reserve include the shy and elusive otter.
Look out for curlew, sandpiper and the flash of a flying snipe. The high trill of a reed bunting or the call of the curlew will never be forgotten.
The lake has a rich variety of plant life, which is why it has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The western shore of the lake is a swampy marsh of bog-loving plants including cinquefoil, bog asphodel and bog pimpernel.
The insectivorous plants sundew and butterwort are also found here. Water plants include shoreweed, the unusual quillwort, yellow water lily, broad-leaved pondweed and bog bean.
Access to the lakeshore is limited to one small area, however, there is a public footpath outside the reserve which gives good vantage points of the whole site.
Grid reference SO 009 971
your comments
Wynne Thomas, Ontario, Canada
Many, many years ago (let's say well over half-a-century) when I lived in Caersws I, as a youngster, used to fish with a friend in Llyn Mawr for a rare kind of char, which, perhaps mistakenly, we believed to be unique in Britain. We would ride our bicycles to the Rhallt above Llanwnog and then walk, with our fishing gear, to Llyn Mawr, as well as to the adjoining Llyn Ddu and Llyn Tarw. Those, indeed, were the days.
Tue Aug 19 09:07:27 2008
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