Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen

Geschiedenis

Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen is a nature reserve on the outskirts of the Belgian city of Ghent. It lies mainly in the district of Mariakerke and covers 230 hectares. It mostly consists of wet, often flooded, meadows interspersed with ditches and canals, and is an important wintering area for water birds. It acts as a buffer zone between the city and the R4 ring road's noise-reducing barriers have been erected to lessen the road's impact on the wildlife.There are three main trails through the reserve and at the centre is the Valkenhuis or Falcon House, a historic building previously used by falconers for the training of birds for the Counts of Flanders. A visitor information centre was built in 2006 at the entrance to the reserve.FaunaThe reserve is best known for the large numbers of ducks and geese that overwinter here on the flooded grassland. The commonest wildfowl are wigeon, teal and shovelers. Also present are smaller numbers of pintail, gadwall, shelduck, tufted duck and pochard. There are also Canada geese and barnacle geese, neither of which are native species. Other water birds include lapwings, curlews, ruff and snipe.