Hornborgasjön Travel Guide

This is one of Europe’s most important bird lakes and it currently also attracts large groups of people. Beautifully situated at the foot of Billingen table mountain in an ancient countryside setting. Once a famous bird lake that was then drained by human beings. One of Sweden’s largest nature conservation projects has since recreated a living bird lake from an overgrown marsh.

Ten thousand years ago, our forefathers came here. Wandering hunters who found plenty of food at the lake. So the lake functioned as a larder for the population for thousands of years, since man began cultivating crops and keeping cattle some five thousand years ago. The lake made the surrounding areas rich. Lake Hornborga is very shallow and has a high food value. In the spring, the water rose sharply when the snow melted and the flat shores were flooded. The varying levels of the water produced fertile water meadows where both birds and grazing animals thrived. In the past, a great deal of hay was harvested here. In the 19th century, people started draining the wetlands (wet, shallow areas) to create agricultural land. In southern Sweden, almost all the wetlands were drained and many species of bird that are dependent on them have been decimated.
Lake Hornborga was also affected and, after the level of the water had been lowered five times by the 1930s, the lake almost dried out during the summer. The channels that had been dug led the water out of the lake. In spite of this, the amount of arable land that was recovered was not that great. The spring flood was far too large to enable dry land for cultivation to be created. Instead, the lake became overgrown by bushes and reeds - it became a marsh. The bird life of the past was just a memory.

Not only cranes but also thousands of other birds come to Lake Hornborga. It is a very important resting place for birds on their way north in the spring and south in the autumn. Many breeding birds also stop here during the spring and summer. So what is it that makes the lake so attractive? For the resting birds, the plentiful supply of food and the safe places to spend the night are important. They can rest, eat and supplement their fat stores so that they can manage the next stage of their journey. The lake offers an incredible amount of food for different species of bird: fish, insects, frogs, seeds, plants and other birds. Different species have different needs and they use different environments at the lake. In all, more than 100 species of bird use the lake every year. More than 50 of them breed in or by the lake. Lake Hornborga is, for example, the home of a quarter of Sweden’s black-throated terns, almost all the black-necked grebe and the largest colony of black-headed gulls

Hornborga Naturum contains an exhibition about the history of the lake and its bird life, a beautiful slide show, a viewing tower with a lift, a souvenir shop and a cafeteria. If you follow the foot-bridge to Fageludden, you pass two hide-outs. If you are quiet and have a little patience, you can watch birds at very close quarters. Fageludden is one of the very best places at the lake to watch birds. You can see grebe, ducks, coots, wading birds and Sweden’s largest colony of black-headed gulls, with several thousand pairs of breeding birds. At the end of the point, you will find the old bird tower with a fantastic view of the lake. This is the start of a number of walking tracks which pass along the water meadows and out into the old cultural landscape.

The information centre known as Hornborga Naturum stands on pillars in the lake at Fageludden (the point). It was opened in 1986 when the restoration project started in earnest. It is situated on the eastern side of the lake, where the Billingen table mountain rises out of the water. The surrounding countryside with its old stone walls bears witness to its ancient traditions and, in mid-May, the cherry trees fill the hills with white blossom.

Lake Hornborga lies between Skara, Falkoping and Skovde. Naturum Trandansen (crane dance), with cranes during the month of April, is right next to road 184 between Skara and Falkoping by the south-western part of the lake. On the eastern side of the lake lies Hornborga Naturum - a few kilometres north of Broddetorp. There are road signs from Varnhem (between Skara and Skovde) if you are coming from the north. If you are coming from the south/west, there are signs from Torbjˆrntorp and from the road between Skara and Falkoping.