Description of the attraction
The Kotelsky Nature Reserve is located in the Kingisepp District of the Leningrad Region. The territory of the reserve has a somewhat elongated shape and stretches in the south-west direction from the central coast of the Koporskaya Bay, which belongs to the Gulf of Finland, for almost 30 km.
The state preserve "Kotelsky" was founded in 1976 and today has regional significance. The aim of the creation of the reserve was to preserve the diversity of woody vegetation, including oak forests near the northern border, as well as natural objects of the glacial landscape. In addition, biological diversity and the hydrological regime of lake ecosystems are regulated. The total area of the natural object is more than 12 thousand hectares, including more than 3 thousand hectares of the lake water area and about 50 hectares of the water surface of the Gulf of Finland.
The territory of the natural complex is surprisingly rich in lake systems, because there are five lakes on its territory. Glubokoe, Babinskoe and Kopanskoe lakes are the so-called fragments of an ancient river valley. The depth of the Deep Lake is 22.5 m; the second deepest lake Kopanskoe is 16 m deep, and the rest of the lakes are only a few meters deep.
Woodlands are represented by bilberry and sorrel spruce forests with some admixture of linden, oak, maple; in the under forest zone, you can see hazel, as well as wolfberry. The herbaceous layer of the reserve is represented by the spring rank, lungwort, liverwort, amazing violet, runny and many other oak plants. A small area is occupied by an oak forest with a predominance of starfish. In the heather and lingonberry pine forests, there are southern-boron species, represented by the bunchy kachim, sandy carnation, and spiky Veronica. Some area is allotted for bracken-reed birch forests, aspen forests. It should be noted that the most widespread are black alder swamps interspersed with calla and some other bog types, for example, sedge-sphagnum, sedge, birch-sphagnum, dwarf shrub-sphagnum with an admixture of pine. The sandy coast of the Gulf of Finland is especially rich in coastal rank, sandy hairline, seaside swan species. The shallow waters of the lake are replete with rare plants for this area: Dortman's lobelia, the finest caulinia and several species of half-ears.
It is worth noting that the natural conditions of the Kotelskoye reserve are extremely diverse, which determines the incredible wealth of representatives of the animal world. All five lakes of the reserve are rich in rudd, bream, roach, crucian carp, bleak, and ruff. Some time ago, the lakes were treated with ichthyocide, after which they were used for the development of gira, peled and carp. Kopanskoye Lake has a very developed cage economy, characterized by the cultivation of rainbow trout.
Among the representatives of large mammals in the zone of the nature reserve one can find roe deer, elk, bear, wild boar, wolf; the common marten, raccoon dog, fox, badger, ermine, black polecat, garden dormouse and flying squirrel are especially common. There are five species of bats on the territory of the reserve.
As for rare bird species, among them are osprey, lesser spotted eagle, little owl, eagle owl, green woodpecker, corncrake, nutcracker and white-backed woodpecker. The abundance of the black woodpecker, nightjar and missel thrush, which are more common in pine forests, is especially high. On the lakes, you can see many nests of black-headed gull, great crested grebe, river tern, great merganser, crested duke, carrier and gogol.
On the territory of the nature reserve, making fires in the wrong places, tapping trees and preparing firewood, parking and driving vehicles in the forest and lake zone, pollution of territories, lakes and rivers with garbage and other waste is strictly prohibited.
