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Warsaw, June 23, 2003.
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Eden, Paradise, Heaven… ...
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Do you remember the last time, when you have entered the Heaven? You never did it before? – never? – really? I cannot believe that! I used to do this – very often! – and I really like it! Further more, Heaven is not closed and you need no tickets – everybody is invited.
I used to spend each of my holiday or vacation, traveling “around the world”, however being so busy, recently it means rather “around my homeland”. I try to access any territory, which is described in manuals for tourist, but I never give up, when I see something strange and unusual on my way. Sometimes my journey force me to enter forbidden territory, but usually I try to avoid such situations. This year I had no time to prepare my summer trip, so I decided to visit several nice places on the sea shore, well known (for me) from the very early childhood. Isn’t it funny to look how forests grow?
As you perhaps know, life made me alone, and I had to accept this – but I think that sometimes it would be the biggest advantage of my life. There are so many places, where you would see nothing while being with anybody else. Any person standing next to you, would make Heaven to disappear. So, please do not take with you too many friends, just one lovely person is enough.
Well, I will not bother you with details of several thousands kilometers long trip. But there is just one place, which I think is worth to mention.
If you have a map, try to find very small piece of territory, located on the Baltic sea shore between Stutthof (widely known because of Nazi Concentration Camp) and Katy Rybackie – near Vistula Peninsula. You have no idea, where would it be? – OK. Look at Polish Baltic sea shore first, then find the old city named Gdansk, (formerly known as Danzig) then follow to the east until you cross Vistula river. Finally move 20 kilometers to the east. There is the Cormorant Sanctuary there (between these small cities). Most of Polish Sanctuaries and National Parks are treated as restricted territories, and you are allowed to walk only on some marked walkways, if any exist. But not here! If you wish to admire the beauty of the big black birds, which formed unexpectedly large colony, you are allowed to be in the middle of amusing scenery, together with birds, which do not afraid of people, since they occupy very tall pines, all the day long.
Perhaps you remember my pictures taken at Airshow in May this year. Believe me, it was much easier to take pictures of the airplanes than to photograph fast moving birds. So please excuse me for the poor quality. Perhaps some day I would get some knowledge and would be able to catch the beauty of the birds.
Please look at below picture and try to imagine my happiness, when I was standing in direct sun (without any cap on my head) for half of the day with my old (but still good) camera in front of my face – ready to shoot.
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Brief information at the entrance to sanctuary describes the way Cormorants destroyed one hundred years old forest. They especially like very old pines. Young and green parts of pine are used to build nests. The tree without needles will not survive longer than three years. Each year Cormorants have to build new nests, so the circle of dying trees grows very fast. Look at the middle picture, the tries at left are alive jet, while the group in the middle is dead already. The third picture shows how the tree looks like after several years, then it collapses.
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It is really great to observe these amusing birds, however I would be even more satisfied, if they would be able to coexist with the pines aged from 100 to 130. There are not so many such an old forests. The most right picture shows the bird over the nest. If you wish to take such picture you have to be as close as possible. But be careful because the birds eat at least one pound of fresh fishes everyday, and they “produce” a lot of aggressive excrements all around – another reason why forest must day. The price I had to pay for taking this picture? – just small white gift on the top of my head.
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Above shown lying tree was “standing” alone in the middle of the area, where there was very old forest - in the past. This tall pine was very exciting, not only for me (because it’s shape) – the birds liked it also (do not ask me why), and the strongest of them had to fight from time to time. I have no idea, why the birds were calm occupying another tree with the group counting more than ten birds, while this particular tree was good just for one or two Cormorants.
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To catch more than one pound of fishes everyday, Cormorant have to be a very good swimmer. Some of them are so tired, that are not ready for evening return flight. If the bird allows you to come so close, there is no doubt, he is week, and in some cases the very next day, you may find his body laying on the beach.
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It was really great to observe Cormorants during their flights. What do you think, why they have to fly so long and so far? The reason is simple: the colony of six thousands birds needs three tons of fishes everyday! Above pictures demonstrate that Cormorant may enjoy single flights as well as in small groups, but also in large groups counting perhaps even up to one hundred birds.
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Proud and very happy author and photographer.
Some day you may accidentally meet him on his next trip!
Perhaps he is just thinking about next journey?
Perhaps dreams about some great companion?
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If you liked these black birds – perhaps you would like to read more about their life and problems they cause to the environment? My first adventure with these birds happen many years ago, when as a little boy I have got from Santa Clothes some big and very beautiful (however black and white) album by Włodzimierz Puchalski. Today probably your favorite Internet search engine would be very helpful.
Twenty years ago, I spent one year and half in the very nice small city named Ann Arbor, located in the state of Michigan. I didn’t know that there is a huge colony of Cormorants in this state, also. What is even more interesting, their population started to grow rapidly in the early eighties, exactly in the same time, when it occurred in Poland.
Greetings from Poland,
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