Zwillbrocker Venn, Nature reserve in Vreden, Germany
Zwillbrocker Venn is a nature reserve on the German-Dutch border, covering about 157 hectares of forest, bog, wet meadow and open water. Peat extraction left a shallow lake, now surrounded by heather, grass and a belt of trees. A grassy path crosses the heather in the foreground.
The Zwillbrocker Venn grew out of a raised bog that was cut for peat; when extraction ended, a shallow lake remained. In 1938 parts of the area were designated a nature reserve. Soil finds on the bog's edge point to hunter-gatherer groups of the late Palaeolithic, around 10,000 BC.
The reserve lies directly on the German-Dutch border, and its wet meadows and heath are managed jointly with Dutch conservation bodies. The flamingos that breed here in spring winter in the waters of the southwest Netherlands, so the colony is shared between the two countries. Visitors can watch the birds from marked paths without crossing the frontier.
The reserve lies west of Vreden, directly on the Dutch border, and covers about 157 hectares of forest, bog, wet meadow and water. A marked circular path with observation platforms and a viewing tower allows birdwatching; the shallow lake is the central feature. Flamingos are present mainly in May and June, while gulls stay all year.
The flamingo colony here is the northernmost breeding site for flamingos in the world. Ringing began in 1987, and since 1995 the birds carry coded 5.5 cm plastic rings that can be read through binoculars, giving exact data on individual birds.
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