The Josefov Meadows Bird Reserve ( cz, Ptačí park Josefovské louky) is a privately owned, publicly accessible nature reserve next to Josefov Fortress near Jaroměř in the Hradec Králové Region, Czech Republic. Established in 2008, the area is administered and developed by the Czech Society for Ornithology. The wet meadow is being restored with the aim of creating a reserve for birds, as well as other fauna and flora that thrive in

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

Restoration of the wet meadows

The Czech Society for Ornithology started buying up land in an area next to the river Metuje and restoring and imitating its original appearance and function of a floodplain. Thanks to public donations and sponsors, the Society has bought and repaired a hundred-year-old irrigation system that maintains a higher level of groundwater and is used twice-yearly to imitate natural spring and autumn flooding of the meadows. The area is managed with the view to accommodate not only wild animals but also the visitors who come to see them, therefore there are also maintained paths, a bird feeder, observatory towers. The Society is building ponds and clearing out aggressively growing plants, cutting the grasses only after the nesting birds had time to hatch. The area is changing every year towards the desired goal with many species returning to it including rare and endemic ones.

Fauna

The 2017 census counts high numbers of 25 species of dragonflies including endangered and rare ones, 217 species of

beetles Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

, hundreds of

amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...

, and rising variety of

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

. Over ten-year period of the reserve's existence there have been observed 166 bird species. More than ten of them even nesting there including

northern lapwing The northern lapwing (''Vanellus vanellus''), also known as the peewit or pewit, tuit or tew-it, green plover, or (in Ireland and Britain) pyewipe or just lapwing, is a bird in the lapwing subfamily. It is common through temperate Eurosiberia. ...

, common snipe, water rail, spotted crake and little crake. In 2016 there have been observed for example short-eared owl, common crane, northern shoveler or garganey, attempting to nest thanks to the appearance of Eurasian beaver. Among the returned amphibians are frogs and newts, newly appeared are European green toad and European fire-bellied toad. The 25 species of the odonata genus illustrates the improving quality of the protected ecosystem, with

southern emerald damselfly ''Lestes barbarus'' is a species of damselfly of the family Lestidae, the spreadwings. Its common names in English include southern emerald damselfly, shy emerald damselfly, and migrant spreadwing.Clausnitzer, V. 2009''Lestes barbarus''.The IUCN ...

and yellow-winged darter dependent on the wet meadow environment, rare in the Czech Republic. There is probably twice the counted number of beetle species including

great silver water beetle Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

, 5 listed as endangered and 6 specially protected.

Conservation grazing

In January 2018, five young Exmoor stallions arrived on loan by

Česká krajina o.p.s. Česká is a municipality and village in Brno-Country District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,000 inhabitants. Česká lies approximately north-west of Brno and south-east of Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ...

from

Milovice Nature Reserve Milovice Nature Reserve ( cs, Přírodní rezervace Milovice) is a nature reserve next to the towns of Milovice and Benátky nad Jizerou in Nymburk District, Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. Established in 2015, the area is administered b ...

to help maintain the biodiversity of part of the wet meadows by grazing, creating varied environment of diverse vegetation cover which is ideal for birds - hiding in taller grasses, collecting food in areas grazed low. Since the wild horses are not being chemically dewormed, their manure is attractive to many insect species, providing additional source of food to local birds.

Gallery

File:Jaroměř airport from air 1.jpg, Josefov Fortress on the left, the park is to the right, photo from air. File:Jaroměř Starý Ples from air.jpg, Aerial photo of the park, up and to the left of the lake. File:Jaroměř airport from air 2.jpg, Aerial photo of Jaroměř airport, the park is the uppermost green strip seen above it. File:Jaroměř Josefov from air K2 -14.jpg, Part of Josefow Meadows viewed from air - the triangle of land between Stará Metuje and Metuje rivers.

References

External links