Llangorse Lake (1 Viewer)

a large natural lake leftover from the ice age.it is situated just north of Bwlch in the usk valley.the best place for birding is at the Llangasty nature reserve hide on the south shore.to get to the reserve you come out of Bwlch towards Brecon.as you exit the village there is a sharp bend to the left.on this bend there is a road going off to the right signed Middlewood Farm.take this road.follow it around the sharp right hand bend until you come to a junction at the bottom of the hill.take a left.follow this for about 3 miles until you come to a plant nursery on the right.a little further on you will see a turn off to the right signed Llangasty Church.take this road.park in the church car park at the end of the road.the reserve is through the stile on the SW corner of the car park.follow the footpath to the hide which.the hide overlooks the lake and extensive reedbed.there is also a footpath that will take you to the other side of the lake.birds that have been seen from the hide are.sparrowhawk,bittern,gooseander,hobby (in summer),peregrine,water rail,kingfisher,little grebe,gc grebe,goshawk,red kite,heron and a very large population of wildfowl (resident and migratory).

i beleive this place also throws up the odd smew in winter aswell, so i've heard.

I know this thread is incredibly old, but I'll add to it for the sake of a birder wanting to know more about birding at langorse.

I visited the lake for a week in late July. On the first day I got excellent views of a pretty (& fairly tame) female Mandarin Duck on the main lake amongst the tame Mallards. I have heard there is also a male on the lake, although I wasn't lucky enough to see him.
There is also a large population of Canada Geese , with a few Barnacle Geese amongst them (in 2015 I regularly saw huge flocks of the latter, but only a handful in 2016). There are also Cormorants and Great Black-Backed Gulls on the lake.
If you go over the bridge a the bottom of the campsite beside the lake, you can easily spot Redstarts, Great-Spotted Woodpeckers, Whinchats, Reed Buntings, Goldfinches, Pheasants, Buzzards, Sedge/Willow Warblers and ChiffChaffs in the first two fields. The best spot to watch Redstarts (for me) was by the hedge on the far side of the first field you come to after crossing the bridge in the evenings. If you're lucky, you might also spot a Red Kite (I saw two at this particular location). There are also Tawny Owls present, although I only heard them.

I may have seen an Aquatic Warbler, however I only managed to glance at the bird for a second, and although I saw fine streaks running down its flanks, I did not look to see if the bird had a yellow crown-stripe or see any other key ID features. Because of this, I have (reluctantly!) concluded it was a Sedge Warbler.

There is also a very nice hide on one side of the lake. Simply follow the path that starts at the bridge and it will lead you there. You can get maps at the reception next to the lake that show you the route.

As for wildlife, we had two Hedgehogs, a Rabbit, lots of Grey Squirrels and a Wood Mouse visit our campsite, all of which didn't seem too scared of us!

I hope this post helps a bit

It can be a great spot for Great White Egrets as well.

Rich

A bit of a late record, but I saw a Storm Petrel at Llangorse in the mid-1980s ...probably gone now