Nature reserve ”Birch Islands” description and photo - Russia - Leningrad region: Vyborgsky district (Topic)

Nature reserve "Birch Islands" description and photos - Russia - Leningrad region: Vyborgsky district. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photos and a map showing the nearest significant objects.

Photo and description

In the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, there is the state reserve "Birch Islands". It is a wetland created in 1994 and is of international importance. It is located at a distance of 2 km southwest of the city of Primorsk, Leningrad Region. You can get to the reserve by following from St. Petersburg to the city of Primorsk, then 2 km south-west through the Bjerkesund Strait. The reserve covers an area of 55295 hectares on land, as well as 47020 hectares in the water area of the Gulf of Finland.

The purpose of the creation of this reserve was to improve the living conditions of semiaquatic and waterfowl during all periods of their biological cycle. It is equally important to preserve the natural hydrological regime and a significant diversity of ecosystems, including the protection of rare species of birds and animals, maintaining an optimal environment of aquatic and coastal vegetation necessary for their food and protection.

The area is perfect for the development of family recreation, ecological tourism, recreational, sports and exclusive fishing.

The territory includes a large number of islands of various sizes, the largest of them: Northern Berezovy, Bolshoy Beryozovy, Zapadny Berezovy, Maly Berezovy, southern and western parts of the water area.

Forest vegetation predominates in the vegetation cover of the archipelago. The most common type of coniferous forest on all the islands of the archipelago is pine forests. Spruce forests are widespread only on North Birch Island. Birch forests play an important role in the vegetation cover of the islands, replacing coniferous forests after felling, fires and are the main type of communities on overgrown agricultural land. Aspen forests are found in small tracts and very rarely. The Black Alder forests are mainly located on the coasts, which are the main element of the vegetation cover of the islands. The deciduous forests of Maly Berezovy Island are absolutely unique; some very old perennial oaks can be found among them. These are typical broad-leaved forests of oak, ash, maple, linden, with the presence of many oak forest plants in the herbaceous cover (dense corydalis, perennial forested forest, variegated pearl barley).

The archipelago has different types of bogs: lowland, transitional, upland. In botanical terms, pine-sphagnum bogs are the most interesting on Bolshoy Berezovy and Zapadny Berezovy islands. There, in addition to the usual marsh plants, there are some species that are rare for the Leningrad region: a brown ossuary, a flooded plunger, a soddy marsh, an intermediate sundew.

Various fish species inhabit and spawn around the Birch Islands: smelt, pike perch, herring, bream, perch. There are also small, but rare and valuable species of fish: whitefish, vendace, slingshot.

Areas where large sites of waterfowl are located are shallow waters, bays and straits between the islands formed during the spring migration. Particularly numerous are the camps of the river duck (mallard, shirokonosk, sviyaz, teal-cracker, pintail, teal-whistle), geese (black and barnacle), swans (tundra and whooper), diving duck (turban, blue, long-tailed ducks, tufted black ), mergansers (long-nosed and large).

Smaller islands are the favorite nesting places for waterfowl. They formed mixed colonies of terns, gulls with numerous nests of ducks inside. Such settlements are known on the islands of Maly Berezovy, Rondo, Bolshaya Otmel, ludas and numerous small islets.

The southern and western waters serve as a breeding ground for the Baltic ringed seal. From year to year, depending on the border edge of the freeze-up, the area in which seals breed changes, but, as a rule, it is located 6-10 km south of Bolshoy Berezovy Island.

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Topic: Nature reserve ”Birch Islands” description and photo - Russia - Leningrad region: Vyborgsky district.