Crimean natural reserve. Nature reserves of Crimea Lebyazhy Islands message

Location:

87 km east of the village. Chernomorskoye, Razdolninsky district, in the Karkinitsky Gulf of the Black Sea, near the village of Portovoye.

Even the Crimean residents, far from all will answer you where it is located and why these islands are remarkable. But, perhaps, this is good, as well as the fact that they hid away from noisy resort villages and beaches.

To the north of Cape Tarkhankut, behind the Bakalskaya Spit, in the Karkinit Bay of the Black Sea, near the village of Portovoye (the old name is Sary-Bulat), more than a hundred years ago, there was a spit with lush vegetation and even a source of drinking water. The locals drove their cattle there for the whole summer as a free pasture. But over the years, the spit was washed away and three rather large islands appeared. They began to be called Sary-Bulatsky, and the name Lebyazhy appeared later. Naturally, they stopped grazing cattle there, and birds began to intensively populate fertile places. The local population began to use it in every possible way: they got the meat of a game bird (they also traded in delicacy swan meat), while the scale of collecting bird fluff and eggs was such that they made it possible to use eggs not only as a food product, but also in building mortars for the special strength of buildings.

It must be said that the sea, having created islands from the spit, did not calm down on this, and after a while six smaller ones “hidden” from the three islands. And there were such a number of them until recently, when suddenly one of the islands was swallowed up by the restless sea, washing in return a small spit again. So after all the vicissitudes of local relief formation there were five islands. They received the name Lebyazhye from the light hand of the German scientist Brawler, who visited here at the end of the 19th century. The scientist saw a huge colony of mute and screamer swans and suggested that this is their nesting place. Apparently, he happened to be on the islands in July-August, since to this day, during these months, thousands of these royal birds fly here in order to shed their old feathers and grow new ones, as in Andersen's fairy tale.

During the molting period, swans cannot fly and choose these islands and the water area of ​​the shallow bay, overgrown with grass, which they eat with pleasure, as the safest. But swans do not build nests here and do not breed chicks, although some of the swans live on the islands throughout the year. These are young birds that do not lay eggs until the age of 4-5, as well as adults who, for some tragic reason, have lost their mate. There are legends about swan fidelity, and although, indeed, swans create monogamous unions and live in pairs, in case of loss of a partner, they do not rush to the ground from a height, but most often look for their other half again. Here on our islands there is also such a "dating club" for single swans.

Quite a lot of swans fly here for the winter (up to 5 thousand individuals), because the bay practically does not freeze, and if it does, there are always large polynyas. Sometimes, in extreme cold, part of the swans fly to the beaches of Yalta, Sevastopol, Evpatoria. People feed them there. And then the birds again return to their quiet, cozy, safe island kingdom-state, which since 1949 has officially been the ornithological branch of the Crimean State Reserve.

This means that on the Swan Islands it is not only impossible to hunt birds, but also to disturb them in general, as well as to fish, collect medicinal plants and generally conduct any activity. The area of ​​the islands themselves is 52 hectares, the surrounding shallow water - 9612 hectares. The adjacent water area of ​​the Karkinitsky Gulf and the coastal lands of the Razdolnensky and Krasnogvardeisky regions are also protected. Only rangers and ornithologists who watch birds at different times of the year are allowed to be here. After all, in addition to swans on the islands, you can see another 260 species of birds, 49 of which are listed in the Red Book! Such, unfortunately, are now rare birds, such as: spoonbill, loaf, yellow heron, white-eyed duck, small cormorant, stilt, chigrava, thin-billed curlew, bustard, steppe kestrel, curly pelican, etc. There are only 250 to 50 individuals. Some of them nest here, others visit only in winter, others rest on migration. The most numerous bird colony of the Swan Islands belongs to the order of gulls (among others, the herring gull or martyn). There are over 5,000 pairs here.

The largest - the black-headed gull - is also listed in the Red Book for its rarity. Their only colony on the Black Sea lives on these islands. As well as a colony of the gray heron - the largest bird in the south of the European part of the CIS. Recently, pink pelicans have appeared on nesting. Numerous flocks of migratory birds also stop on the islands on their way to Africa, Europe, Asia: turukhans, snails, sandboxes, terns, ducks, white-fronted and gray geese, swallows, larks, thrushes, wagtails. At the same time, there are up to 75-100 thousand of them in clusters, and during the day, at the height of the flight - up to a million! It is not for nothing that the Lebyazhy Islands have a reserved international status, because it is extremely important to preserve this "rest station" on the thousand-kilometer migration route of many birds.

Ornithologists are constantly researching all these birds and changing conditions in the reserve. I am glad that these conditions began to gradually improve. For example, as a result of a decrease in the intensity of chemical processing of rice fields, coastal areas and the bottom of the sea are overgrown with grass, and this is the main food base for birds. There are more fish and other marine life in the bay. The protection of lands from poachers has improved: the staff of rangers has doubled, equipment has appeared (cars, boats, although, of course, there are not enough of them). It was also possible to save these places from attempts to issue hunting licenses, ostensibly to earn money for development ...

Although the reserve is considered ornithological, fish are also protected here along with birds (there are still seahorse, thorn, beluga, Black Sea salmon) and animals: marine (bottle dolphins, azovka and common dolphins) and land (large jerboa, white polecat; endangered species of the steppe viper and yellow-bellied snake). But of course, the main dream of local specialists is the organization of the Karkinitsky reserve, which will include the entire bay, as well as the Bakalskaya spit and the salty Bakalsky lake. Then instead of a branch there would be an independent reserve. Maybe the Swan Islands will be lucky and they will be taken under their wing by a rich and generous person who is not indifferent to our animals and birds, just as the Askania-Nova Reserve was once lucky with the wonderful Baron Falzfein.

How to get there:

from Chernomorsky can be reached by shuttle bus going through the village. Razdolnoe. Then - a walk (8 km to the north to the village of Portovoye on the Karkinitsky Bay), which will not only strengthen your health, but also give you an unforgettable impression of the surrounding landscapes. If you will travel by your own transport, then you must first drive 79 km to the north along the territorial road T0107 to the village. Razdolnoe, in which you need to turn left on the ring and drive another 8 km to the north to the village. Port on Karkinitsky gulf.

Boundless steppes, even as a table, covered with stunted vegetation, coastal solonetzes and solonchaks, muddy shores barely rising above the level of lagoons, interspersed with almost bare shell spits - the northwestern Crimea looks so dull.

Farther to the north and northwest is an equally bleak landscape: tens of kilometers of marshy shallow waters, overgrown with algae or covered with dead and rotting remains of them. Half a kilometer from the shore one can see low, reed-covered islands, a narrow chain of which stretches to the very horizon.

This is the Lebyazhy Islands - a protected area of ​​the Crimean reserve and hunting economy. They are accumulative formations that appeared on one of the eastern banks of the Karkinitsky Gulf of the Black Sea. The size of the islands, their outlines, the topography of the bottom off the coast, and even the total number of islands are constantly and rather rapidly changing.

Now the total length of the chain of islands is about 5 kilometers, the area is 57 hectares, of which about 7 hectares fall on internal bays and channels. The relief of the islands is calm, only on the western shores there are small elevations of shells, but they do not rise above 2 meters above sea level.

Compared to the adjacent areas of the steppe Crimea, the vegetation of the islands is quite rich and lush. Almost half of the entire area of ​​the islands is occupied by reeds confined to heavily waterlogged depressions. In more elevated and dry places, high and dense thickets of sagebrush alternate with thickets of giant grate, sea rush, quinoa, white sweet clover, salt marsh aster and sea kale. At the same time, on the islands, all these plants are characterized by gigantic growth and often form continuous, impassable thickets. The lush development of the herbaceous vegetation of the islands may seem surprising, since they are devoid of a soil layer and are composed of loose shells. However, abundant atmospheric moisture, seeping through a layer of sand and lingering at a depth of 1 - 1.5 meters above the heavier layers of salt water, provides plants in abundance, and thousands of birds inhabiting the islands bring a lot of organic fertilizers.

The islands are located among vast shallow waters with a depth of 30 - 60 centimeters. There is no surface vegetation here. The predominant type of benthic vegetation is thickets of seagrass zostera. To the west of the islands, the depth gradually increases and at a distance of 200 - 300 meters it is already 2 - 4 meters. During stormy westerly winds, the islands can be flooded with water and, if this coincides with the breeding season of birds, all clutches and many chicks perish.

The shallow waters of the Karkinitsky Gulf are the only part of the Black Sea covered with ice. The duration of freeze-up is on average about 30 days (from 15 to 45 days). In severe winters, the thickness of the ice reaches 60 - 70 centimeters, and the shallowest areas freeze to the bottom. Warm southerly winds break the ice two or three times in winter and carry it out to sea; ice hummocks up to 6-7 meters high sometimes form near the islands.

Lebyazhy Islands is a bird sanctuary. There are almost no other animals here, except for the green toad, the agile lizard, the Kurgan mouse, the social vole and the steppe polecat. In winter, foxes come to the island on the ice of the bay, but they never stay here for the summer.

On the territory of the islands and the buffer zone, according to the latest data from Yu. V. Kostin, 223 species of birds are found throughout the year. Some of them come here regularly and in large numbers for nesting, molting, migration and wintering, others are very rare or accidentally fall into this area.

On a cold, cloudy January day, the steppe, barely covered with snow, is deserted, a piercing north wind presses flocks of field and steppe larks to the ground. Near the shore there are heaps of greenish-gray porous ice, and further, as far as the eye can see, there are endless ice fields with whitening ridges of hummocks, patches of icing and dark water of polygons and cracks. Only from somewhere far away is the cry of invisible whooper swans, and occasionally a flock of long-nosed mergansers, pintails or mallards will sweep in the distance. It is felt that all life is concentrated somewhere there, at the edge of the ice field or on vast leads.

A completely different picture on a January sunny day. There are thousands of birds on the water of the bays: mallards, pintails, teal-whistles, wigeons, shovelers. You can meet here crested and black scaly, loot and large merganser. In warm winters, herring gulls, turukhtans and curlews, marsh harriers and long-eared owls remain to winter on the shores of Karkinitsky Bay; often there is a white-tailed eagle. True, there are few birds on the islands themselves in winter, only reed buntings and baleen tits are common, which take refuge in reed beds.

On warm, serene days of late January or early February, herring gulls begin to gather on the islands. At this time, you can already hear their laughter, indicating that the birds are preparing for breeding. During February, the number of herring gulls on the islands increases, and from the middle of the month, gray herons begin to arrive at the nesting sites.

March is the month of intensive migration of waterfowl, the beginning of migration of passerines, and in the last decade, the earliest clutches of gray heron, herring gull and mallard appear on the islands.

In addition to ducks, which are also found in the wintering grounds, white-eyed ducks, shelducks and, in very large numbers, common teals fly through the reserve in spring. In March, gray geese, bean gooses, white-fronted geese and lesser white-fronted geese fly. The migration of many shorebirds begins, among which there are especially many turukhtans and lapwings. Black-headed gulls and the largest of our terns - greaves - fly over for nesting.

However, the March weather is still very unstable: there are cold winds, frosts, and snowfalls. The flight either intensifies or weakens. Only herring gulls do not seem to react to the weather, and by the end of the month they occupy all areas of the islands suitable for nesting. This gull is not very whimsical in the choice of nesting sites and does not build nests only in solid reeds and on completely bare spits and shallows. In recent years, about 7 thousand pairs of these birds nest here. From afar, the islands look dazzling white from the seagulls sitting on them, and when alarmed, the birds that have taken off cover the sky with a solid white lace.

In April, all the birds that have arrived on the islands are busy building nests. The greaves annually choose for their colony the most remote, completely devoid of vegetation, shell spit. Gray herons often nest in dense reeds in rather dense colonies, but sometimes their individual nests can also be found among sagebrush thickets.

Later than others - in April - loaves, little and great egrets appear on the islands. These three species have started nesting on the islands recently; however, the whole history of legged birds on the islands is only twenty years old. Gray heron nests were first found on the islands in 1947, but the number of birds was low. In 1955, 67 nesting pairs were counted, in 1963 - 218 pairs, and in 1971 616 nests were found.

The little egret did not nest on the islands until 1961. From 1961 to 1966, 4-5 clutches were found annually, but for one reason or another they died. Only in 1967, when 30 pairs of these birds built their nests not in a separate colony, as before, but among the nests of the gray heron, the chicks hatched safely. Since then, the number of herons has continued to grow, and in 1970 there were already 138 nests.

The loaf came to the islands for the little heron, and its first seven nests appeared here in 1967. Initially, she also unsuccessfully nested in a separate colony and all clutches died. Only in 1969, several pairs nested among the colonies of gray and little egrets, bred chicks, and in recent years this bird has become a common nesting species of the islands (more than 40 pairs).

Finally, in 1970, one pair of great egrets nested for the first time in a colony of little egrets; in 1971, five nests were found, in three of which the chicks hatched safely.

While birds have already started nesting on the islands, they fly over the islands, the bays surrounding them and the steppe day and night. In April, common teals continue to fly, there are numerous red herons, filling the night sky with characteristic cries of night herons and tops flying. No other month of the year sees such a large number of bird species visit the area as in April. In huge flocks for several days in a row, dunlin and turukhtans fly through the Swan Islands, or flocks of small and black-headed gulls stretch over the coast in an endless line from dawn to dusk. There are massive flights of steppe harriers, common kestrel and red-footed falcons, as well as cranes, cuckoos and swifts. But the most grandiose is the spring migration of barn swallows, which at this time of the year are joined by city swallows and shore swallows. For several weeks, groups and individuals rapidly cross the coastline and hide over the waters of the bay, all in the same direction. There are days when birds fly all day long in one endless ribbon, and on cloudy, starless nights you can listen to the unceasing call of migrating white-brows, song thrushes, mistles or forest pipits for a minute until dawn. Later, in May, they will be replaced by northern sandpipers: red-throated sandpiper, sandpiper, gerbil, white-tailed sandpiper.

In May, there is commotion and incessant screaming on the islands. Nests, nests and nests all around. Involuntarily, you constantly look under your feet so as not to step on the masonry or helpless down jackets. Through the soft chuckle and the gloomy laughter of diving gulls, a piercing cry is heard at the nest of the oystercatcher. From the high sagebrush, gray herons take off one by one and together, as if on command, dozens of little white herons. Huge nests of gray herons lie here right on the ground, among sagebrush bushes, and chicks have already grown up in them; nearby are light "plates" and cones of nests of little egrets with whitish-blue eggs. Dozens of pairs of mallards, long-nosed mergansers and shelducks also nest in dense and hard thickets of sagebrush, and the gray duck also nests irregularly. Until 1968, up to 15 pairs of marsh harriers were bred here, but since 1969 this species has been found only on migration and wintering.

250-450 pairs of greaves regularly nest on the islands. Other terns - river, small, variegated, gull-nosed - not every year and in small numbers. Many sea plovers nest here, and their cute, big-legged and motley downy chicks now and then scatter in different directions and, hiding, fall to the ground itself.

The vast shallow waters of the Karkinitsky Bay, rich in plant and animal food and inaccessible to humans and land predators, have long served as a place for gathering mallards, coots and mute swan for molting. In different years, from 1.5 to 3.5 thousand mallard drakes molt here. After the flight feathers fall out, when they lose their ability to fly, the birds hide in the reeds and spend all daylight hours there, leaving their shelter only at night. Around the same time, in late June - early July, mute swans also begin to molt.

Shallow waters are a wonderful sight in warm, calm weather, when 2-5 thousand huge snow-white birds gather in one of the bays at once. From a distance it seems as if a white haze hangs over the water of the bay.

As studies by the staff of the reserve, carried out in 1959-1971, showed, only mute swans molt in the northeastern part of Karkinitsky Bay; whoopers come here only for wintering. Moulting here are young - 1 - 3-year-old - swans that do not form pairs yet. They do not stay on islands, but on the open surface of inaccessible shallow waters or far from the coast in deep places. When the boat approaches, the birds try to swim away; caught, they dive, but only those swans who have recently lost their flight wing feathers succeed, while those whose feathers have grown by more than 1/3 helplessly hide the front part of the body in the water, leaving the tail and legs on the surface.

On hot July days, when clouds of mosquitoes hang over the islands, young herring gulls and gray herons begin to leave their native places, migrating first to shallow waters, and then scatter throughout the Black Sea and Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, meeting in the first autumn even much north of Crimea. In August, only in the colony of greaves can there be unfinished business, and belated chicks of the little white heron or loaf are walking around the deserted colony of herons. On the contrary, birds arrive in shallow waters surrounding the islands. In addition to the mallards and molting mute who remained after the molt, tens of thousands of coots gather here to molt. Already in the middle, and sometimes at the beginning of July, most of the waders begin to fly here, among which there are especially many Dunlins, Turukhtans, herbalists, marshmallows, and in some years curlews and godwit are common. At the end of the month, snipes appear near the islands. At the same time, ducks begin to arrive for the autumn fattening.

In the first autumn month, it is still quite warm here. Around the islands there are thousands, tens of thousands of ducks; most of all red-headed ducks, a lot of teal-whistlers and mallards. By October, the bulk of the red-headed ducks fly away, but the whistle-teals become more numerous, their thousands of flocks constantly rush over the islands, from time to time changing places of rest and feeding. Wigeons appear, the number of pintails, shovelers increases noticeably; you can meet the red-nosed pochard and crested duck, gray duck and goldeneye.

On the inner bays of the islands, in the fall, numerous little sandpipers look for food, moorhens and chamois lurk in the thickets, and over the reeds that have thrown out fresh silvery panicles, and over the huge curtains of flowering solonchak asters, willow and chiffchaff, badger warblers and mustachioed tits now and then flit. Often, the most unexpected birds for such places fly out from under the feet: forest hawker, golden eagle, wren, songbird or blackbird.

In late October or early November, geese fly, and then for several days in a row you can follow the high-flying flocks, and at night listen to their restless cackle. At the same time, whooper swans arrive for wintering. Their trumpet call will now herald November storms and February blizzards. Gradually fading, the passage ends in the middle or by the end of November. Mute swans and coots left the places of molting. Almost no waders and gulls can be seen...

And then, if the winter is mild, freezing late and unstable, whistlers, wigeons, pintails, mallards, a few gray and great egrets will remain for the winter. If the winter turns out to be early and severe, they will fly away to the shores of the Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean seas. Only long-nosed mergansers and whooper swans do not leave the bay even in the most severe winters, and whiskered tits and reed buntings remain on the islands.

The first zoologist who visited these islands a little over a hundred years ago was K. F. Kessler, who in 1858 learned about the accumulation of moulting swans here. For almost 90 years, these islands were forgotten. However, since 1949 they have been declared protected and included as a branch in the Crimean Reserve. At this time, their study began, especially fruitful since 1958, when a hospital was organized on the islands.

With the accumulation of information about the birds of this region, it became obvious that the protection of only the territory of the islands is insufficient, since since July almost all nesting birds leave them, and migratory and wintering ones gather in unprotected shallow waters and the shores of the mainland. At the insistence of ornithologists, in the early 1960s, a conservation zone of the Lebyazhye Islands with an area of ​​​​5 thousand hectares was established, which was later expanded to 10 thousand hectares, which made it possible to protect not only nesting colonies of birds, but also places of concentration of waterfowl on a molt, passage and wintering. The coastal strip of the Crimean steppes (6 thousand hectares) and the water area near the islands are allotted for the buffer zone.

The water area allocated for the buffer zone is now 4,000 hectares. This includes all the bays lying between the islands and the main coast of the peninsula, and a section of an open bay 2 kilometers wide, lying to the northwest of the islands. The water area of ​​the buffer zone is of great importance as a feeding place for birds. Zostera biomass here averages 1.5 kilograms per square meter, in some places reaching 4-5 kilograms. The total stock of zoster within the buffer zone can be estimated at 450 - 500 thousand tons. Rhizomes and young shoots of Zostera serve as the main food for swans, mallards, pintails, whistler teals and other ducks.

The importance of the Swan Islands in the protection of birds, especially migratory and wintering ones, is enormous.

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Swan Islands

Swan Islands - can be found in the northwestern Crimea, near the village of Portovoe, in the Karkinitsky Bay. This is a branch of the Crimean Natural Reserve, which is of international importance. In other guidebooks, you can also find another name - Sary-Bulat. This was the name of the village of Portovoye until 1948. A large number of swans live here during the molting and wintering periods. It is these birds that can cause only bright and kind feelings in all people without exception.

The islands are covered with sand and small shells, so the area, configuration, and strangely enough, the number of islands often changes. Their height above sea level barely reaches two meters. Shallow water, an abundance of plant and animal food in the water and on land, combined with a protected regime, attract a huge number of birds to the islands, mostly all of them are waterfowl. More than 230 species live in the protected area of ​​the islands, about 25 species of birds nest.

The pride of the island, which is always in the spotlight, is the mute swan. Almost all year round on the protected islands you can meet feathered beauties. Mute swans go to the south for winter, they nest in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Danube, Dniester, in the floodplains of the Kuban, in the Volga delta. And in the summer more than 6 thousand of these swans fly to the Crimea. But at the end of the 19th century, their number reached a minimum, because they were shot by hunters.

A huge number of birds - that's who lives on the Swan Islands. When viewing these islands from an airplane in the spring, you can see only a white clot - this is a huge number of birds that live here on the islands. And also healing sea breezes, steppe herbs, cries of seagulls and the blue abyss of the sky - that's what you can admire in these places.

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Adygea, Crimea. Mountains, waterfalls, herbs of alpine meadows, healing mountain air, absolute silence, snowfields in the middle of summer, the murmur of mountain streams and rivers, stunning landscapes, songs around the fires, the spirit of romance and adventure, the wind of freedom are waiting for you! And at the end of the route, the gentle waves of the Black Sea.

The Lebyazhy Islands are a branch of the protected hunting economy, which is located approximately two hundred kilometers northwest of the mountainous Crimea, in the Razdolnensky district, near the village of Portovoe, in the Karkinitsky Bay. Gulls-gulls, tern-grey terns, many species of ducks, waders, herons and, of course, swans - mute and whooper have long lived in this area of ​​\u200b\u200bfrightened birds. The shallow water, surrounded by islands, abounds in a variety of algae and sea grass - an excellent food for birds. The most interesting time of the year here is spring and early summer, the time of active bird nesting and feeding of babies. Dense thickets of reeds and even open sandy shores are completely dotted with nests - either carefully paved, or arranged in a hurry right on the sand, in insignificant depressions.

By the end of May, the first offspring begins to appear - thousands of chicks. Someone is sitting in the nests waiting for their parents with food, someone is already darting about in the grass on their own. At the sight of a person, those that are already older, frozen in the thickets, vigilantly observe him with dark dots of their eyes or quickly rush to the water, stumbling and even falling along the way. In fairly dense reeds, herons clumsily shy away, leaving their own nests with half-downed offspring. An incessant hubbub and hubbub is kept in the district. Seagulls with alarming cries hover over the very head, anxiously “dive”, almost touching the aliens with their wings, chasing him and flying for a long time behind the ship retreating from the islands. But as a rule, during this period, they try not to disturb the birds. Even gamekeepers and scientists are less and less likely to visit the islands for their own observations.

In the midst of summer, huge flocks of swans gather in the area for seasonal molting. Their number usually ranges from three to five thousand. At this time, they completely lose their ability to fly and are ringed, catching up on a boat in the sea. Ringing of herons and gulls also takes place here, which provides an opportunity to learn the routes of seasonal bird migrations. At least, the returns of swan rings were from Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and herons and greaves - from Central and North Africa.

In autumn, compared to summer, there is less revival on the Swan Islands, and besides, at this time, both the behavior and the species composition of the inhabitants change significantly. The young offspring have already learned to fly quite well, there are much fewer gulls, but such a huge number of migratory ducks and waders gather that even if it were possible to frighten them all together, they would cover the whole sky with themselves. If even one large flock of ducks rises, the surroundings are filled with such a loud noise that it seems as if a whole train is passing nearby. The water in the bay becomes darker from such an accumulation of birds. From time to time, large flocks take off, make a couple of circles over the islands, and again descend to the shallows with a roar and screams. Even at night, the whistling of wings and the hubbub of birds flying overhead can be heard from everywhere.

Swans, as a rule, stay away from the islands, and they approach them only in non-flying weather, in search of calm. Often in the evening, during sunset, you can see a snow-white string of swans flying over the water. Their flight is simply magnificent - a serene and majestic flapping of wings, a charming synchronicity of the movement of the whole system!

The Swan Islands in the Crimea are just a fertile object for ornithological scientific research. This is a territory not only for nesting, molting and wintering of birds, but also for long stops of many migratory species. In addition to ringing, observations are made here of their number, diet, behavior; after all, it is a significant reserve of many birds. It is no coincidence that at the IV International Conference on the Protection of Waterfowl, which was held in Iran in 1971, the Swan Islands were included in the list of protected areas of the international level.

At present, ornithologists are monitoring the changes that are taking place on the Lebyazhy Islands and the surrounding areas in connection with the construction of the North Crimean Canal and the inflow of Dnieper water. Due to the release of fresh water, the salinity of the Karkinitsky Bay has significantly decreased, which has led to changes in the diversity of flora and fauna. Huge thickets of reeds, cattail, sedges formed directly on the discharge sites, freshwater algae, fish representatives, and mollusks spread; typical inhabitants of floodplains and floodplains began to settle here - water hens, warblers, chauffeurs, etc. Coots, loaf, great and small white herons, many ducks also nest. But the flooding of coastal lands also has negative consequences: a decrease in the number of bustards and demoiselle cranes, which until recently were quite numerous in the area of ​​the Swan Islands. Apparently, there is a process of formation of a new complex of avifauna in this area.

In case of favorable weather conditions, many species of birds, including swans, do not leave the islands, continuing to winter here. But when severe cold sets in, the water in the bay quickly freezes, and then it is hard for the birds left without food. Most of them group into small flocks and leave their usual places, heading south. To the same individuals who did not leave the Swan Islands and got into trouble, people rush to help ...

From - March, 11th 2012

Even the Crimean residents, far from all will answer you where these islands are located and why they are remarkable. But perhaps this is good, as well as the fact that they hid away from the noisy ones. I myself, although I heard that there are protected bird islands somewhere in the north-west of the peninsula beyond Razdolny, but all “hands did not reach” to find out more about them.

And this summer, one familiar enthusiastic guide mentioned in a conversation about the development of a new resort route, namely, ornithological (for bird lovers): “There is an opportunity to see pelicans and flamingos in the wild, in natural conditions,” he said, “and don’t be surprised So, you don't have to travel far for that.

We have them here - on the Swan Islands. Wow, just some kind of exotic and not somewhere, but in our native open spaces! “So what, just come and see?” I wondered. “Well, it’s not easy, of course. You need special permission, because these are reserved places. We are negotiating with the management of the reserve about such an opportunity for specially trained small groups of tourists. Perhaps they will agree, because the funds will go to the needs of the farm, since they have enough problems ... ”That's when I wanted to know what kind of farm this is and where all of a sudden such amazing birds come from in Crimea. And here's what turned out.

To the north of Cape Tarkhankut, behind the Bakalskaya Spit, in the Karkinit Bay of the Black Sea, near the village of Portovoye (the old name is Sary-Bulat), more than a hundred years ago, there was a spit with lush vegetation and even a source of drinking water. The locals drove their cattle there for the whole summer as a free pasture. But over the years, the spit was washed away and three rather large islands appeared. They began to be called Sary-Bulatsky, and the name Lebyazhy appeared later. Naturally, they stopped grazing cattle there, and birds began to intensively populate fertile places. The local population began to use it in every possible way: they got the meat of a game bird (they also traded in delicacy swan meat), while the scale of collecting bird fluff and eggs was such that they made it possible to use eggs not only as a food product, but also in building mortars for the special strength of buildings.

By the way, the landowner Saenko, who at the beginning ran in Sary-Bulat, on such a solution in 1903 built the five-domed old Russian style St. George-Alexander Church with a monastery courtyard. Yes, so strong that an attempt to demolish it in 1985. was repeated three times, until the “atheist enthusiasts” left only the foundation of it (by the way, the bells from those ancient times, buried somewhere on the shore of the Karkinitsky Bay, could not be found ...)

Let's get back to the islands. It must be said that the sea, having created islands from the spit, did not calm down on this, and after a while six smaller ones “hidden” from the three islands. And there were such a number of them until recently, when suddenly one of the islands was swallowed up by the restless sea, washing in return a small spit again. So after all the vicissitudes of local relief formation there were five islands. They received the name Lebyazhye from the light hand of the German scientist Brawler, who visited here at the end of the 19th century.

The scientist saw a huge colony of mute and screamer swans and suggested that this is their nesting place. Apparently, he happened to be on the islands in July-August, since to this day, during these months, thousands of these royal birds fly here in order to shed their old feathers and grow new ones, as in Andersen's fairy tale. During the molting period, swans cannot fly and choose these islands and the water area, overgrown with grass, which they eat with pleasure, as the safest. But swans do not build nests here and do not breed chicks, although some of the swans live on the islands throughout the year. These are young birds that do not lay eggs until the age of 4-5, as well as adults who, for some tragic reason, have lost their mate.

There are legends about swan fidelity, and although, indeed, swans create monogamous unions and live in pairs, in case of loss of a partner, they do not rush to the ground from a height, but most often look for their other half again. Here on our islands there is also such a “dating club” for lonely swans.

Quite a lot of swans come here for wintering (sometimes up to 5 thousand individuals), because the bay practically does not freeze, and if it does freeze, there are always large polynyas. Sometimes, in extreme cold, part of the swans fly to the beaches of Yalta, Sevastopol, Evpatoria. People feed them there. And then the birds again return to their quiet, comfortable, safe island kingdom-state, which since 1949. officially is an ornithological branch of the Crimean State Reserve. This means that on the Swan Islands it is not only impossible to hunt birds, but also to disturb them in general, as well as to fish, collect medicinal plants and generally conduct any activity.

The area of ​​the islands themselves is 52 hectares, the surrounding shallow water - 9612 hectares. The adjacent water area of ​​the Karkinitsky Gulf and the coastal lands of the Razdolnensky and Krasnogvardeisky regions are also protected. Only rangers and ornithologists who watch birds at different times of the year are allowed to be here. After all, in addition to swans on the islands, you can see another 260 species of birds, 49 of which are listed in the Red Book! Such, unfortunately, are now such rare birds as: spoonbill, loaf, yellow heron, white-eyed duck, small cormorant, stilt, chigrava, thin-billed curlew, bustard, steppe kestrel, curly pelican, etc. There are only 250 of them left in the world up to 50 individuals. Some of them nest here, others visit only in winter, others rest on migration. The most numerous bird colony of the Swan Islands belongs to the order of gulls (among others, the herring gull or martyn). There are more than 5 thousand pairs of them.

The largest - the black-headed gull - is also listed in the Red Book for its rarity. Their only colony on the Black Sea lives on these islands. As well as a colony of the gray heron - the largest bird in the south of the European part of the CIS. Recently, pink pelicans have appeared on nesting. Numerous flocks of migratory birds also stop on the islands on their way to Africa, Europe, Asia: turukhans, snails, sandbox sandboxes, terns, ducks, white-fronted and gray geese, swallows, larks, thrushes, wagtails ... At the same time, there are up to 75 of them in clusters. 100 thousand, and during the day, at the height of the flight - up to a million! It is not for nothing that the Lebyazhy Islands have a protected international status, because it is extremely important to preserve this “rest station” on the thousand-kilometer migration route of many birds.

Ornithologists are constantly researching all these birds and changing conditions in the reserve. I am glad that these conditions began to gradually improve. For example, as a result of a decrease in the intensity of chemical processing of rice fields, coastal areas and the bottom of the sea are overgrown with grass, and this is the main food base for birds. There are more fish and other marine life in the bay. The protection of lands from poachers has improved: the staff of rangers has doubled, equipment has appeared (cars, boats, although, of course, there are not enough of them). They also managed to save these places from attempts to issue hunting licenses, supposedly to earn money for development ... To invent something like this: to scare and disperse all the birds with shooting and dogs with "good" intentions to protect them. Then there will be no one to protect.

Another thing is if you organize excursions to the islands with an experienced ornithologist. Although the reserve is considered ornithological, fish are also protected here along with birds (there are still seahorse, thorn, beluga, Black Sea salmon) and animals: marine (Azovka and white flanks) and land (great jerboa, white polecat; endangered species of steppe viper and yellow-bellied snake). But of course, the main dream of local specialists is the organization of the Karkinitsky reserve, which will include the entire bay, as well as the Bakalskaya spit and the salty Bakalsky lake. Then instead of a branch there would be an independent reserve. Maybe the Swan Islands will be lucky and they will be taken under their wing by a rich and generous person who is not indifferent to our animals and birds, just as the Askania-Nova Reserve was once lucky with the wonderful Baron Falzfein.