The Plaiaundi Ecology Park is a 24 -hectare coastal wetland lying where the

Bidasoa River __NOTOC__ The Bidasoa (; ; , ) is a river in the Basque Country of northern Spain and southern France that runs largely south to north. Named as such downstream of the village of Oronoz-Mugairi (municipality of Baztan) in the province of Navar ...

meets the sea in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

. This is in the Basque country of northern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, close to the border with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is near

Irun Irun (, ) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Roman- Vasconic town. During the Spanish Civil War, ...

and

Hondarribia Hondarribia (; ; ) is a Spanish town situated on the west shore of the Bidasoa river's estuary, in Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community. The border town is situated on a little promontory facing Hend ...

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

, Spain, and

Hendaia Hendaye (; Basque: ''Hendaia'',HENDAIA

migratory birds Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and mortality. The ...

in Europe, with up to 175 species seen visiting the park each year. It is a natural flora and fauna reserve. The park contains three lagoons, two of which are tidal, and a beach.

Tidal movements

Water levels in the tidal lagoons can be managed by adjustable sluice gates. At low tide, birds forage on the exposed mudflats for

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateria, bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limb (anatomy), limbs, and usually no eyes. Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine ...

s and

molluscs Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

. At high tide they roost on islets or continue feeding in areas unaffected by the tides.

Biodiversity

The nature of Plaiaundi consists of a wide variety of flora (visitors view them mainly in the spring) and fauna (visitors with binoculars arrive all during the year, because of the birds migratory habits).

Flora

In the park there are different plant species, all of which have had to adapt to the extremes of conditions of the wetlands. The typical flora of the wetlands, which are called

halophile A halophile (from the Greek word for 'salt-loving') is an extremophile that thrives in high salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more ...

s, are located in areas where the tide brings salt water twice a day. Each species can tolerate only a certain amount of salt. For this reason, they are distributed in strips to resist the tide. The hardier plants, such as the salt grass, are found in the lower part of the park, to which only some species have adapted. Higher in the park are other species, like the ''

Ammophila arenaria ''Ammophila arenaria'' is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is known by the common names marram grass and European beachgrass. It is one of two species of the genus '' Ammophila''. It is native to the coastlines of Europe and North Afr ...

'' (European beachgrass), and ''

Cytisus striatus ''Cytisus striatus'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names hairy-fruited broom and Portuguese broom. This plant is native to the west of the Iberian Peninsula and northwestern Morocco. Description This i ...

'' (Portuguese broom). This higher level is covered by salt water only in the spring, by the

spring tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

s, so more plant varieties are adapted to this habitat. Other species also live here, such as green seaweeds and plants like the herbaceous plant ''

Paspalum vaginatum ''Paspalum vaginatum'' is a species of grass known by many names, including seashore paspalum, biscuit grass, saltwater couch, silt grass, and swamp couch.sedges The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large; botanists have described some 5,500 known species in about 90 generathe largest being the "true sedges" (genu ...

grow on the banks of the lakes. The dry area is occupied by

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

(grasses), which provide food for many insects, birds and small mammals. Also found in this area are many common herbaceous flowers such as

bird's foot trefoil ''Lotus corniculatus'' is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae. Common names include common bird's-foot trefoil, eggs and bacon, birdsfoot deervetch, and just bird's-foot trefoil (a name also often applied to other ''Lotus'' spp.). It ha ...

, ''

Scrophularia auriculata ''Scrophularia auriculata'', the shoreline figwort or water figwort, is a perennial plant of the genus Scrophularia in the family Scrophulariaceae. It is found commonly in Western Europe and North Africa, on the margins of rivers, ponds and simil ...

'', ''

Ranunculus acris ''Ranunculus acris'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, and is one of the more common buttercups across Europe and temperate Eurasia. Common names include meadow buttercup, tall buttercup, common buttercup and giant but ...

'', ''

Lathyrus ''Lathyrus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, and contains approximately 160 species. Commonly known as peavines or vetchlings, they are native to temperate areas, with a breakdown of 52 species in Europe, 30 specie ...

'', '' Serapias cordigera'' and ''

Lychnis flos-cuculi ''Silene flos-cuculi'' (syn. ''Lychnis flos-cuculi''), the ragged-robin, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to Eurasia and Siberia and has been introduced to North America. Description ''Silene flos-c ...

''. Among the main trees and bushes are ''

Platanus racemosa ''Platanus racemosa'' is a species of plane tree known by several common names, including California sycamore, western sycamore, California plane tree, and in North American Spanish . ''Platanus racemosa'' is native to California and Baja Califo ...

'',

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

s, ''

Nothofagus obliqua ''Nothofagus obliqua'', commonly known as Patagonian oak, ''roble'', ''pellín'', ''roble pellín'', and ''hualle'' in its early state of growth or roble beech, is a deciduous tree from Chile and Argentina. It grows from 33 to 43° south latitude ...

'', ''

Tamarix The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Ta ...

''.

Fauna

This nature park contains a variety of birds, reptiles, mammals and insects. Birds: resident birds: The more frequent species that can found here all the year is the

little grebe The little grebe (''Tachybaptus ruficollis''), also known as dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''takhus'' "fast" and ''bapto'' "to sink under". The specific ''ruficollis'' is from Latin ...

European shag The European shag or common shag (''Gulosus aristotelis'') is a species of cormorant. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Gulosus''. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa, ma ...

common kingfisher The common kingfisher (''Alcedo atthis''), also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of ...

water rail The water rail, western water rail or European water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this ...

and

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

. In the Summer- Autumn season: Little ringed plover, red-backed shrike, Eurasian reed warbler and grasshopper warbler. In the Winter-Spring season: Great northern diver, great cormorant, black-necked grebe, red-breasted merganser, common shelduck, grey plover, dunlin, common snipe, Eurasian curlew, razorbill, common murre, reed bunting and some other Anatidae and gulls. Migratory birds: Due to there being a geographic point of interest for the migratory birds, we can watch species like the Eurasian spoonbill, Cory's shearwater, great black-backed gull, terns, Ciconiiformes and less frequent species. Amphibians, fishes and invertebrates There is a good selection of aquatic fauna, like the flathead mullet, righteye flounder and Anguillidae. Amphibians found here are the green frog, palmate newt and natterjack toad. Mammals are not as frequent in the area, but like in other places with the same type habitat there are some species of shrew, common vole, mice and the least weasel (an introduced species).

Nature calendar

Flora and Fauna during each month of the year: * January: Loons, cormorants and shags, Anatidaes and some waders show up. Sparrows form their own living groups. The halophyte plants remain dry. The Almond Willow flowers in a large display of color. * February: The first frogs appear. * March: The Little Ringed Plovers appear and start singing. Plenty of Natterjack Toad frogs croaking at night. Many trees budding, with sprouts of Willow, Common reed, Halophiles, and Common Alder. * April: Pairs of Little Ringed Plovers in abundance. The migration increases with waders, insectivores and other types of birds showing up. * May: First chicks appear of the Little Ringed Plover. Large quantities of many aquatic insects and fishes are visible in the water. The park is full of various flowers. * July: Dragonflies are numerous and very active as the sun dries the puddles from the rains. Filamentous algae’s grow at amazing rates in the waters. * August: The migration out of the park starts of the insectivore birds, Acrocephalus warblers and the Old World warblers. The amphibians begin to prepare to spend the winter in hibernation. * September: The rate of migration speeds up; herons, cormorants, gulls, anatidaes, waders and many of the little birds leave for other parts of the world. * November: Some birds pass along the park like geese and cranes. From the North the American robin is seen along with pipits and mosquitoes. The frogs hibernate.

References

{{reflist

External links

Plaiaundi Ecology Park
Nature reserves in Spain Protected areas of the Basque Country (autonomous community)