Kak (; ), also known as Ulken Kak (), is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in Timiryazev District,

North Kazakhstan Region North Kazakhstan Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan, with a population of 522,171. Its capital is Petropavl, with a population of 221,907 people. It is the only region of Kazakhstan in which ethnic Kazakhs don't make up a majority. History ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. The southern shore of the lake lies very close to the border with

Kostanay Region Kostanay Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan. Its administrative center is the city of Kostanay. The population of the region is 835,686. The population living in Kostanay is 207,000 which is equivalent to 23% of the region. Geography Kosta ...

. Timiryazevo town, the administrative center of the district, lies to the northeast of the lake.

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

Geography

Kak lies in a shallow depression to the west of the

Ishim Ishim may refer to: *Ishim (river), a river in Kazakhstan and Russia *Ishim, Tyumen Oblast, a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia *Ishim (angel), a rank of angels in the Jewish angelic hierarchy See also

*Ishimsky (disambiguation) *Ishimbay {{Disam ...

, in an area of scattered lakes at the southern limits of the

West Siberian Plain The West Siberian Plain () is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei, Yenisei River in the east, and the Altai Mountains on the southeast. Much of the plain is poorly d ...

. The lake is roughly oval, has very little depth and its bottom is flat. The middle of the lake has a maximum depth of only about and is surrounded by a wide zone of clayey shoals. Its main food is snow and the level of the water is subject to seasonal changes, shrinking by 20 to 40% in years of drought.BirdLife Data Zone - BirdLife International
/ref> The water of the lake is fresh and soft, with a mineralization between and . The lake is also known as "Big Kak" in order to differentiate it from

Kak (Kishi Kak) Kak (; ), also known as Kishi Kak (), is a salt lake in Timiryazev District, North Kazakhstan Region, Kazakhstan. The lake lies to the WSW of Sergeyev town. Timiryazevo town, the administrative center of the district, lies to the west of the ...

"Little Kak" lake, located to the ENE in the same district.

Fauna

The vegetation in the area of lake Kak was formerly

forest-steppe A forest steppe is a temperate-climate ecotone and habitat type composed of grassland interspersed with areas of woodland or forest. Locations Forest steppe primarily occurs in a belt of forest steppes across northern Eurasia from the eastern ...

, but nowadays the lake is largely surrounded by agricultural fields. The lake is visited by large flocks of waterbirds and waders, such as the

red-breasted goose The red-breasted goose (''Branta ruficollis'') is a brightly marked species of goose in the genus ''Branta'' from Eurasia. It is currently classified as vulnerable species, vulnerable by the IUCN. Taxonomy and etymology The red-breasted goose ...

whooper swan The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/ "hooper swan"; ''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type species for the genu ...

and

common crane The common crane (''Grus grus''), also known as the Eurasian crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the crane (bird), cranes. A medium-sized species, it is the only crane commonly found in Europe besides the demoiselle crane (''Grus virgo'') an ...

, as well as by the

white-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), sometimes known as the 'sea eagle', is a large bird of prey, widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which also ...

. It is also one of the critical sites for the

lesser white-fronted goose The lesser white-fronted goose (''Anser erythropus'') is a goose closely related to the larger greater white-fronted goose (''A. albifrons''). It breeds in the northernmost Palearctic, but it is a scarce breeder in Europe, with a reintroduction ...

.Critical sites for the Lesser White-fronted Goose
/ref>

References

External links

Ecological assessment of wetland ecosystems of northern Kazakhstan
{{Lakes of Kazakhstan Lakes of Kazakhstan North Kazakhstan Region West Siberian Plain