Camargue. Nature miracle

WONDERS OF NATURE
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Camargue. Nature miracle

Wonders of nature

The Camargue Nature Reserve covers an area of 13 hectares in the French department of Bouches-du-Rhone, in the lower reaches of the largest river in France - the Rhone. The Camargue was founded in 500 on the initiative of Professor Louis Mangin, then President of the French National Society for the Conservation of Nature. The lands of the reserve were leased from the Peshine chemical company, in 1928 the contract was extended for another 1959 years.

Camargue nature reserve

The Camargue region has a very generous sun: it shines for about 2800 hours a year. The reserve is characterized by salt licks, solonchaks, sand dunes, salt lakes, swamps, and halophilic vegetation.

When the protection dam of the Great Rhone was built at the end of the XNUMXth century, vineyards and fields of alfalfa appeared in the northern Camargue. Later, large areas were also occupied by rice fields.

Now forests of white poplar, ash, elm and willow stretch along the coast. Freshwater swamps are overgrown with reeds, reeds, sedge, etc.

Between swamps, lakes and lagoons, in high areas where the soil is less saline, dry meadows form, where wild bright red gladioli, yellow violets, elecampane and irises grow.

The Camargue is the only place in France where juniper 6–7 m high and 50 cm in diameter, several types of kermek and saltworts are found in large quantities.

The Camargue fauna is very rich. There are especially many birds here: more than 300 species of birds nest, winter and stop on migration. Pink flamingos, various ducks, gulls, terns, waders nest.

The abundance of birds is explained by the favorable climate: warm winters, not very hot summers and moderate rainfall.

Flamingos feed on small crustaceans and molluscs in salt marshes and lagoons. And birds settle on the islands, building nests from mud and saltwort stalks. Usually about 15 thousand flamingos live in the Camargue, of which about a third spend the winter here.

The Camargue is a great wintering place for European ducks. Up to 150-250 thousand of these birds gather here. Most winters are common teals and mallards.

Pintail, shoveler and red-headed pochard, sandpiper, lapwing, etc. survive the winter in the reserve.

In the Camargue, there are many gulls (silver, sea, gray, small) and terns (variegated, white-cheeked river and small, black, white-winged).

Of the birds of prey, there are black kites (there are red ones on the migration), reed harriers and common kestrels.

The mammalian fauna of the Camargue is much poorer. It is home to about 30 species of animals, common to other regions of Europe (hedgehog, hare, rabbit, squirrel, voles, mice, rats, fox, badger, weasel). The otter is very rare.

Bronco horses and bulls live here in conditions close to natural. Camargue horses are born black but later turn white over the years. It turns out that the light color of animals attracts horseflies and bloodsuckers less than the dark color.

A. Bannikov writes: “Horses of the Camargue really differ in some features of the primitive breeds of domestic horses (but not a wild horse - a tarpan, as they sometimes write about it). Probably, as early as the Middle Ages, as a result of devastating wars, several runaway horses ran wild, and many generations of animals lived and now semi-free herds of the Camargue horse graze all year round in the meadows and swamps of the Rhone delta.It is interesting that foals here are always born black (black) or dark bay (reddish-brown), by the fourth year they turn gray and gradually lighten "until they become completely white as adults. Camargue horses are very careful and do not let you get close. In the past, foals were constantly caught, circled and used for riding, including for festive games and performances."

The semi-wild bull of Camargue has preserved, perhaps more than all other domestic bulls, the signs of the aurochs, which disappeared in Central Europe as early as the 20th century. Now these bulls are used in the Camargue for theatrical performances "Running with a cockade", during which daredevils, dressed in all white and unarmed (and there are up to 15 of them in the arena), must rip off an arrow-cockade stuck between the horns of an angry bull. The prize is awarded not to a man, but to a bull, whose cockade will remain safe and sound after XNUMX minutes of being in the arena.

At another show with bulls, "Ferrida", which takes place every Sunday in September, a mounted group of shepherds on Camargue white horses drives a one-year-old bull into the crowd of the public; daredevils try to grab the bull by the horns, mark it with an iron brand and let it go.

Of the amphibians and reptiles, the Camargue is home to the green frog, tree frog, marsh turtle, lizard, grass snake, membranous newt, Spanish spadefoot, fusiform skink, etc.

An idea of the way of life of the indigenous inhabitants of this region of France can be obtained at the Camargue Museum, located near Albaron. In addition, here you can see the medieval fortifications in Aigues-Mortes, the amphitheaters in Arles and Nîmes.

The locals of the Camargue love holidays. Therefore, in the arena in Arles, you can see the bullfight, and in Nîmes, celebrate the Trinity. In Saint-Maries-de-la-Mer once a year (May 24-25) gypsies make a pilgrimage, who come here from all over Europe to honor their protector Saint Sarah.

The Camargue is a great place to relax. Wide sandy beaches stretch along the coast from the mouth of the Rhone to Sainte-Marie-de-la-Mer. On many beaches, fans of equestrian sports are offered horseback riding, and local rental points provide bicycles for use.

Gourmets will obviously enjoy the local cuisine. A particularly savory dish is dob de guardian (beef roast in red wine, with fresh herbs and garlic). This dish is served with vegetables.

Author: Yudina N.A.

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