Photographer: Elisabet Johansson

Lake Östen nature reserve
Odensåker

One of the country's most valuable bird lakes

Lake Östen is one of the country's most valuable bird lakes. The lake is an important rest area that geese, swans, ducks and waders need during their migration.

The reserve was established in 1994 and covers 1423 hectares.
At Lake Östen, you can see a number of different bird species, common to see are geese, swans, ducks and waders. When the ice melts in the spring, the lake is usually visited by large numbers of whooper swans. Even more unusual bird species have been seen at the lake, eg red-legged, little-spotted marsh hen and grasshopper warbler. Around the greater part of the lake there is a belt of reeds, which towards the land turns into tall grass and sedges. The two rivers Tidan and Ösan flow through the lake.

The ice break usually starts around March/April and is the best time for bird watching. There are both bird towers and a platform from which you can study birds.

The water level in the lake has been lowered several times, which in combination with long-term supply of nutrients has led to overgrowth. A large part of Östen's coastal meadows are reclaimed and managed with grazing and mowing. The claim keeps the coastal meadows open and benefits many bird species. When grazing animals graze on the shoreline, an open vegetation-free zone is formed inside the reed belt. This "blue border" is a very productive environment where young birds easily find food.

Living cultural landscape

At Logården north of Odensåker's church, there is a living cultural landscape in the form of fields and meadows with a series of cultivation mounds and stone walls. On the slope down towards the lake Östens beach meadows there are traces of the lake's former shorelines.
The old barn at Logården has been converted into an information center for the lake area. Here there are exhibitions, information, a cafe on several weekends and the local community association's object collections.