The natural wonders of Bout du Lac d’Annecy

A natural environment home to typical marsh species: - lysimachia with its lovely yellow flowers (same family as primroses) - purple loosestrife, with its clusters of pink flowers - meadowsweet, known for its medicinal properties - water mint, with its very pleasant scent Of course, these environments are home to many other plant species, including orchids such as the Marsh Helleborine and the Marsh Orchid (Anacamptins palustris). Photo: Lysimachia - loosestrife - meadowsweet - water mint - marsh helleborine - marsh orchid

Look out on the perches by the water and you might just spot a kingfisher, a beautiful, vibrantly-coloured bird. It is an unrivalled fisherman, always on the lookout for small fish. It dives like a torpedo deep into the water to catch fish to nourish itself. Often all you can see is the turquoise glint of its feathers as it glides like lightning onto its next feeding ground.

Can you recognise at a glance which is the female? The female goosander has a brown head and a grey and white body, while the male has a dark green head and a black and white body. The goosander is not a duck but a fish-eating aquatic bird. It is an iconic species in Haute-Savoie, as it breeds in only 5 provinces in France. It is a good diver and it nests in cavities, such as old tree trunks.

Reedbeds represent a vibrant and fertile environment, providing refuge for many species of fish. They are also ideal nesting grounds for numerous passerines, such as the verderolle and effarvatte warbler. Maintaining these fragile environments requires a natural tidal range (variation in the water level of the lake) throughout the seasons.

This medieval tower is an ideal vantage point for observing water birds. Great crested grebe, goosander, common coot, heron - many species enjoy the calm of the aquatic reeds and take refuge there. Wintering ducks such as the ruddy duck, the tufted duck and the common pochard overwinter at the mouths of the Ire and the Eau Mort rivers.

The beaver uses wood to build its burrow-lodge and eats leaves and tree bark. Have a look around you at all the willow trunks that have been gnawed by beavers. This animal, which was reintroduced to the lake in 1972, now inhabits Lake Annecy from north to south, all the way to the Giez marshes.

Solidago, butterfly bush, Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam, all these garden escapees are causing problems today because they are displacing our wild plants. These are aggressive plants that compete with other species, upsetting the local ecological balance. The Conservatoire d'espaces naturels de Haute-Savoie, which manages the nature reserve, regularly calls on volunteers to uproot these invasive plants in order to preserve the local vegetation.

The common chub is a freshwater fish that generally stays at the surface of the water in summer and takes shelter at the bottom when the weather turns cold. Young chubs tend to be social and live in shoals, while adults are more solitary. They always seem to have an empty stomach and are always on the lookout for any food the river may bring.