The natural wonders of Bout du Lac d’Annecy

Natural environment that includes typical marsh species:
- Yellow Loosestrife with its pretty yellow flowers (the same family as primroses)
- Purple Loosestrife with its spikes of pink flowers
- Meadowsweet, known for its medicinal properties
- Water Mint with its very pleasant smell

Of course, these environments are home to many other plant species, including many orchids such as the Marsh Helleborine and the Marsh Orchid (Anacamptis palustris).

Photo: Yellow Loosestrife – Purple Loosestrife - Meadowsweet - Water mint – Marsh Helleborine - Marsh orchis

Look for perches on the river banks, you might spot a Common Kingfisher, this beautiful, brightly colored bird.
It’s an outstanding fisherman, always on the lookout for small fish. It dives with a rocket speed deep into the water, to catch fish to feed. Often you only notice the turquoise reflection of its feathers when it flies with a lightning speed to the next meander.

Do you recognize which one is the female? The female Goosander has a brown head and a gray 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 piscivorous aquatic bird. It is an emblematic species of the Haute-Savoie region, given that it only breeds in 5 departments of France. It is a good diver, nesting in cavities such as old tree trunks.

Reedbeds are productive environments, full of life, in which many species of fish find refuge.
They also offer nesting places for many passerines, such as the Marsh and Reed Warblers. Maintaining these fragile environments requires a natural tidal range (variation in the water level of the lake) over the seasons.

This old medieval tower is an excellent observation post for aquatic birds. Great crested Grebe, Goosander, Common Coot, Heron, many species enjoy the tranquility of aquatic reedbeds and take refuge in this habitat.
Overwintering ducks, such as the Red-crested, Tufted and Common Pochards take advantage of the mouths of the Ire and Eau morte rivers to spend the winter.

Beavers use wood to build their burrows and eat leaves and bark of trees. Observe the willow trunks around you, gnawed by the beaver. This animal, reintroduced in 1972 the Eau morte river, is now found in the entire lake of Annecy, as far as the marsh of Giez.

Goldenrods, Butterfly Bush, Japanese knotweed, Himalayan Balsam, all these plants escaped from gardens, are problematic because they occupy the space of our wild plants.
This invasive species are vigorous plants, which compete with other species by disturbing the local ecological balance. Periodically, the Conservatoire d'espaces naturels de Haute-Savoie, manager of the nature reserve, calls on volunteers to uproot these invasive plants in order to preserve the local flora.

The Common Chub is a freshwater fish that lives mostly on the surface of the water in summer and takes shelter deeper at the bottom from the first cold spells. The juveniles are rather gregarious and live in schools while the adults are more solitary.
It always seems to have an empty stomach and is constantly watching for any food that the river brings along.