West Lake at Silverlake, near Dorchester

Following its transfer to Habitat First, who are making it a housing-cum-nature reserve, this part of the former quarry has become a very good site for waders and Skylarks in spring and summer and for wildfowl in winter. Works have commenced around this lake to make it another housing development. Like the rest of the site, these will be nice houses, all with a lake view and all-native plants, but birders wonder what effect it will have on the birds that currently use the lake in large numbers. Still, it will be better than putting it back to farmland and there will still be two lakes protected as nature reserves. Photo taken 1 November 2024 - since then the bulldozers have moved in!