The Dyfi Osprey Project has released plans to create a new hide for hard-to-spot creatures.
The Machynlleth nature reserve is supposedly looking to replace its first-ever tower hide which started it all back in 2008, which is now a little run down with “rickety timber stairs”.
In its place will instead be a ground-level hide with a “habitat niche” in front “to attract insects, small mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds” that are often harder to see in the reserve’s dense vegetation.
They’ll do this by building a dry stone wall for small creatures and an “infinity pool for birds – birders and photographers will love it”.
The plans also describe installing cameras to create the ultimate viewing experience: “[There will be] an 8K TV inside with the ability to switch cameras to whichever has the best view at any given time.”
It’ll be heated and wheelchair accessible, open 11 months a year and have a volunteer stationed there in the busiest months fielding and answering questions.
Though the centre, part of the Dyfi Wildlife Reserve, has not yet secured funding for the new hide, the team said to “watch this space”.
This comes as the latest in a series of exciting new infrastructure projects for the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust site.
The family were introduced as part of a successful reintroduction programme.
Dyfi Osprey Project’s vision is to create a brand new beaver-watching facility as an educational resource (Dyfi Osprey Project)
The new hide would allow children and adults to view the beavers who would be enticed onto a ramp overlooking the water.
The hide would also be wheelchair accessible, as well as featuring solar-panels, benches and information boards.
Emyr Evans, Dyfi Projects Manager, said: “The idea is to allow access to kids and adults to see beavers with a strong educational aspect.”