Llyn Fanod is an

upland Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

situated between Penuwch and Bontnewydd in

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

partly owned by the

Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) () is a Wildlife Trust in south and west Wales, one of 46 such Trusts in the United Kingdom. History Forerunner of the WTSWW, the former West Wales Naturalists' Trust traces its origin to a me ...

. Public access is via a bridlepath from the road. It is a

mesotrophic lake The Trophic State Index (TSI) is a classification system designed to rate water bodies based on the amount of biological productivity they sustain. Although the term "trophic index" is commonly applied to lakes, any surface water body may be ind ...

located in the headwaters of the

River Aeron The River Aeron () is a small river in Ceredigion, Wales, that flows into Cardigan Bay at Aberaeron. It is also referred to on some older maps as the River Ayron. Etymology The name of the river means "battle" or "slaughter" and derives from th ...

, whose low nutrient waters are home to a number of locally rare water plants.

Waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

and passing

sea bird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

s can be seen on the lake as can

dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

damselflies Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies (which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Epiprocta) but are usually smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the win ...

, and caddis flies in the summer. The lake has a surface area of and a maximum depth of . It lies in a hollow probably scoured out glacially, and is dammed by a

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

Palynological Palynology is the study of microorganisms and microscopic fragments of mega-organisms that are composed of acid-resistant organic material and occur in sediments, sedimentary rocks, and even some metasedimentary rocks. Palynomorphs are the mic ...

studies show that it has developed since the last ice age and is a remnant of a larger lake, Llyn Farch, which has otherwise dried up. It is surrounded by pasture grazed by cattle and sheep and at the southern end is a small peat

mire A peatland is a type of wetland whose soils consist of Soil organic matter, organic matter from decaying plants, forming layers of peat. Peatlands arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, du ...

. There are tussocks of

purple moor-grass ''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of Poaceae, grass that is native plant, native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, i ...

and tall cushions of common hair moss and ''

Sphagnum recurvum ''Sphagnum recurvum'' is a species of moss belonging to the family Sphagnaceae The Sphagnaceae is a family of moss with only one living genus ''Sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly kno ...

''. In the old peat cuttings,

marsh cinquefoil ''Comarum palustre'' ( syn. ''Potentilla palustris''), known by the common name marsh cinquefoil,Streeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ''Collins Flower Guide''. Harper Collins also purple marshlocks and swamp cinquefoi ...

bog asphodel ''Narthecium ossifragum'', commonly known as bog asphodel, Lancashire asphodel or bastard asphodel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Nartheciaceae. It is native to Western Europe, found on wet, boggy moorlands up to about in eleva ...

bogbean ''Menyanthes'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Menyanthaceae containing the single species ''Menyanthes trifoliata''. The North American form is often referred to as ''M. trifoliata'' var. ''minor'' Michx. It is known ...

, beaked sedge and ''

Sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...

'' species grow. In the open water at the southern end, yellow water lilies and European white water lilies float on the surface, and at the northern end can be found water lobelia, lake quillwort, ''

Littorella uniflora ''Littorella uniflora'' (vernacular name: (American) shoreweed) is a species of aquatic flowering plant native to the Azores, Morocco, most of Europe excluding the dry southeast, Iceland, and the Faroes. It prefers to live mostly submerged in nut ...

'' and a few plants of water awlwort, all uncommon species in this area. In the sometimes boggy rough grassland surrounding the lake are also common spike-rush,

water horsetail ''Equisetum fluviatile'', the water horsetail or swamp horsetail, is a vascular plant in the horsetail family Equisetaceae. It is a perennial herbaceous pteridophyte that reproduces using spores. Description The green stems grow 50–150 cm t ...

, sharp-flowered rush and soft rush, marsh willowherb, marsh-bedstraw, floating sweet-grass,

and

lesser spearwort ''Ranunculus flammula'', the lesser spearwort, greater creeping spearwort or banewort, is a species of perennial herbaceous plants in the genus ''Ranunculus'' (buttercup), growing in damp places throughout the Boreal Kingdom. It flowers June/Jul ...

References

External links

Geograph photos of Llyn Fanod and surrounding area
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