SP9314 : The Barn, College Lake Nature Reserve, near Tring
taken 14 years ago, near to Marsworth, Buckinghamshire, England

One of the features of the building are windows onto the adjacent woodland, where you can watch birds feeding from a variety of feeders. There is also a monitor where you can get closer views of the birds - and on the day this picture was taken it was possible to watch a blue tit starting to build a nest in a nearby nesting box.
College Lake is a large nature reserve with a very wide variety of habitats created from a large chalk pit. There is a large area of marsh with islands, and a deep water lake, while the cliffs surrounding the pit are in various stages of being "recovered" by nature. There is open meadow land and an area kept as an old fashioned cornfield full of flowers. There is woodland all round the area (originally planted to hide the quarry) and a large new woodland of native trees and shrubs. This all means that whatever time of the year you visit you can expect to see a wide variety of wildlife.
There are good facilities for the visitor (and for school parties), including many hides, and displays of old agricultural equipment. It is run by the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust. Link
