“The desert is beautiful,” said the little prince, “because it hides a well somewhere…”(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
In the series “The unknown paradise” we will reveal small wells, thanks to which big cities have not yet become deserts.
There is mystery in the flocks. Flying in flocks, birds move in incredible synchrony, over 70% faster than if they flew singly. How do they do it? They share a common direction with a sense of community…
We have so much to learn from birds, even just by watching them! If you take a car from Varna to Beloslav, after the village of Konstantinovo, look for a turn off the dirt road on the right. It is overgrown with scrub. And it will be difficult to pass if you are not on foot or in a high clearance car. A rusty sign, put up more than 20 years ago, indicates that you are entering… Yatata.
The dirt road leads to a wide meadow that reveals a spectacular view – lake magic. You can look around in it. And forget all your problems. Frogs hop among the reeds. Dragonflies fly. Beetles and all kinds of insects buzz. Small schools of fish have just darted and disappeared from your sight under the clear water. And in the distance swans swim…
Only the moment is important. You forget about time. About the rusty sign. The prickly bushes on the road. All that exists is the fairy tale you’re in. And you’re only 15 kilometers from Varna…
The place called “Yatata” is a protected area, a kilometer east of Beloslav and south of the village of Strashimirovo. It is located on the southern shore of the navigable channel connecting Varna and Beloslav lakes. A panoramic view of it can be seen from the asphalt road to Beloslav.
To the east of our “hidden well” we can see TPP-Varna, and to the west – the outline of the town. There are also large ships passing along the canal, which brings you back to reality. Despite the urbanization all around, the “Yatata” manages to support an extremely wide variety of animal and plant life. And it gives everyone the opportunity, besides enjoying the view, to feel like part of nature, and to learn a lot about birds, flora and fauna.
Because of its geography, easy access via the Varna-Beloslav road and flat landscape, the area is one of the few in the Northern Black Sea region offering opportunities for bird watching, says ornithologist and conservationist Ivaylo Ivanov.
The place is also very convenient for holding outdoor classes and educational outings. Because of the hunting ban introduced more than 35 years ago, birds have become accustomed to human presence. They allow those who come close to admire them.
The Mute Swan is one of the 208 bird species that can be found in the Yatata protected area. It, as well as more than 60 other species of endangered birds nest, hunt or find a comfortable resting place here. Pelicans breed in Yatata. Grey and red herons nest in the Yatta. There is a mixed heron colony in the direction of Beloslav, which has been formed for the last 10 years. Green-headed and brown-headed grebes are found. Until 10 years ago, the area was the main site that supported record numbers of the Lesser Cormorant when this species was at critical numbers in Europe.
Due to the urban landscape around the Yatata is poor in mammals. Mainly foxes, jackals and badgers can be observed. In the plain to the west there are stoats, whose population has not yet been quantified. There the area is also used as grassland, which forms a different habitat. There are magpies and wrens that nest and forage here.
When you live somewhere for so many years at some point you begin not to appreciate the wealth you have. “And we do have the incredible advantage of living on a lake. My childhood was very interesting there – fishing, playing, swimming, throwing mud balls…”, the mayor of the village looks back in time. Kaloyan Nikolov.
“Of the fish, most had Ilaria, mullet, cay – when you release and immediately bite. And there was a lot of carp, because the lake was overgrown with stone, reeds, where it spawned. We used to go fishing with the buckets as children,” says Nikola Ivanov, a 77-year-old Stashimiro resident.
Around the 1970s, with the boom of industrialisation and the digging of the canal to connect Varna and Beloslav Lake, Yatata became a dredging depot for the excavated masses from the construction. For a time, while it was a construction site, it was lost to wildlife. Subsequently, the area twice experienced a renaissance. The first was when the dredge spoil tip ceased to function. Then, still because of the composition of the land masses, there was a large amount of shallow water here. And the second – when the Beloslav sewage treatment plant was built. The treated wastewater is the only source of water for the Yatta. In practice, the water level in the protected area is entirely dependent on the amount of treated water.
Shallow marshy areas such as the Yatata are important breeding grounds for fish. Before it was connected to Lake Varna by the dredging of the canal, Lake Beloslav was one of the richest in fish. There were many crayfish, various species of freshwater fish, and large heron colonies, fish-eating birds.
“There were a lot of fish. The water was so clear that we could see where the fish was swimming and we would drop the rod over its head,” says Nikola Ivanov. There were four beaches along the northern shore of the lake near the village of Strashimirovo.
It was a proud moment to become a first or second grader and swim across the lake, smiles Kaloyan Nikolov, remembering how they used to swim across to the other side of the shore and catch tarpon.
With the boom of industrialization in the Beloslav and Devnya area, the fish stopped breeding. “It’s been back for a few years. This year, for example, is a boom for horse mackerel. There are flounder, mullet, ilaria, even an invasive species – pelengas of the genus mullet, extremely adaptable and obsessive to the environment, says the mayor of Strashimirovo.
With the declaration of the protected area, fishing is forbidden on the territory of the Yata, but in practice it happens to be practiced by anglers. According to the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water in Varna, the most frequent threats within the area are related to fishing in its inland waters, which is a prerequisite for disturbing waterfowl.
Because of the shallowness of the pond and the composition of the waters, the place is not the safest for fishing, says Ivaylo Ivanov. He said poaching continues to be a problem mainly during the winter months. After poaching cases, birds become more skittish and nervous and are harder to observe. The lack of a management plan for the territory is also a threat, the expert said. According to him, if the diversity of species and habitats of the Yatra is to be maintained, it is imperative that the area be managed.
In the past, the ponds were two, separated from each other by a solid embankment. One with greater salinity, which formed a different habitat and habitat for species such as waders, shearwaters and various other birds. Eventually, due to rising water levels, the dike breaks, the two ponds merge and the habitat is lost.
Here there were huge impassable swamps. Many artefacts have been found near the sewage treatment plant – Roman villas and remnants of an ancient way of life. During the excavation of the sea-lake channel, a number of artefacts were found – various tools, engravings, which testify that there was a Bronze Age settlement here. The dwellings were erected on wooden columns over the water.
“We were digging with shovels the sand that the dredger was throwing up. We unearthed flints, remains of bones… At home, when we were making a septic tank, I found bones and a bronze hammer at a depth of 2 metres. They came from the museum in Varna and took them for research,” Nikola Ivanov recalls.
A few years ago a stone slab called “stone grandmother” from 2500 BC was discovered here and exhibited in the museum in Varna.
At the time of the Crimean War (1853 – 1856), the village numbered a dozen bad-looking houses. Fishing was the only livelihood. The soldiers traded various animal products with the villagers.
“To develop the settlement to a greater extent, the relationship between the inhabitants and the lake should be emphasized. This is the key. I am convinced that a project for the reconstruction of a Konkol settlement would attract a lot of tourists here,” believes the mayor of Strashimirovo.
What is today the Yatata is a pale copy of what it was before the canal was built. Either way, it is better to have it than to lose it, ornithologist Ivaylo Ivanov is convinced.
We leave the Yatta, having sipped hope from the well discovered in the desert-town. We will tell about it. Because only if we know it can we love it. And only if we love it can we keep it.
