Cranberry Rough is an area of wet woodland and fen that occupies the basin of a former natural lake, Hockham Mere.
The reserve is an excellent habitat for many bird species, including teal and mallard in the winter, and is a good place to see rutting red deer in October.
Common snipe
Following the clearance of dense areas of willow scrub on the reserve, small numbers of drumming snipe have established themselves and started breeding. Larger numbers
of snipe appear over winter.
Access
Cranberry Rough lies within Forestry Commissions Thetford Forest. The Great Eastern Pingo trail passes down the western edge of Cranberry Rough along the raised embankment of a disused railway line which provides ideal vantage points to view a spectacular site, which would otherwise be inaccessible due to the treacherous ground conditions.
Spring
Birds - Snipe, lapwing, marsh harrier, little egret
Insects - Emperor and hairy dragonfly
Summer
Birds - Shoveler, gadwall, snipe, lapwing, common buzzard, marsh harrier
Plants - Milk parsley, southern marsh orchid, water violet
Insects - White admiral, emperor and hairy dragonfly
Autumn
Birds - Shoveler, gadwall, pochard, treecreeper
Mammals - Red and roe deer
Fungi - Birch polypore fungus
Winter
Birds - Gadwall, pochard, teal, shoveler, snipe
Mammals - Red and roe deer