Bidstrupskovene - round trip by Avnstrup shelters

Round trip from the parking lot at Avnstrup. This short route is not signposted. The route goes along dirt roads past Hejede Lake and into Bidstrup Forest past Avnstrup Shelters and back to the parking lot. The route offers the opportunity to experience both views over lakes, meadows, and the forest over a short distance. There are both accessible toilets at the parking lot and camping possibilities at Avnstrup shelter and the campfire hut along the route.

There are both roe deer, fallow deer, and red deer in Bidstrup Forests. The red deer have not been there for many years, and you do not see them very often, but they are there. Here, you can also experience foxes and badgers, squirrels, and mice. The badgers live together in clans in large underground complexes. If you go out on a quiet day or evening, you might be lucky enough to see one when it goes out to find food.

The hazel dormouse is probably the most celebrated resident of Bidstrup Forests. It is on the red list of threatened species and only lives in forest areas in Mid, South, and South-West Zealand as well as in Southern Funen and Eastern Jutland around Vejle. It immigrated to Denmark about 11,000 years ago together with the broadleaf forest. Although it is called a hazel dormouse, it is not a mouse at all, but Denmark's only member of the dormouse family. It spends the entire winter half-year in a nest at ground level, where it hibernates. It does not come out of its winter den until the spring sun shines and the trees bloom, at which point it climbs up into the vegetation to build a nest.

The many ponds, wetlands, and lakes mean that there are plenty of frogs and toads. Especially the green frog can be very loud when a single croak sets the entire population going on a nice summer evening, but there are also pointed-nosed and blunt-nosed frogs. Both great and small water salamanders live in the lakes and ponds in the forest, and there are also many grass snakes.

The ravens are very characteristic of Bidstrup Forests. Several pairs live in the forest. They usually stay together for life, and they are very noisy when spring comes and they have to assert territory, find a mate, or kick out the young from last year. In addition, these large black birds are unmistakable. They are much larger than both crows and rooks.

There is also a good population of songbirds. All the most common ones can be found in Bidstrup Forests. In addition, there are woodpeckers. Both the black woodpecker and the great spotted woodpecker are present. Furthermore, there are nesting woodcocks. The woodcock is one of the few wading birds that live in the forest. There are also several cavity-nesting bird species, such as the stock dove, which is particularly tied to old forests and nests in hollow trees. Among birds of prey, you can encounter buzzards, goshawks, sparrowhawks, kestrels, and red kites.