Kak ( kk, Қақ; russian: Как), also known as Ulken Kak ( kk, Үлкен Қақ), is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Timiryazev District Timiryazev ( kk, Тимирязев ауданы, ) is a district of North Kazakhstan Region in northern Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly i ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

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

Kostanay Province Kostanay Region ( kk, Қостанай облысы, translit=Qostanai oblysy; russian: Костанайская область, translit=Kostanayskaya oblast) is a region of Kazakhstan. Its administrative center is the city of Kostanay. The pop ...

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

Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

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 Ishimbay ...

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

West Siberian Plain The West Siberian Plain (russian: За́падно-Сиби́рская равни́на ''Zapadno-Sibirskaya ravnina'') is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River ...

. 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 was "Big Kak" in order to differentiate it from Kak (Kishi Kak), another lake located further to the east in the 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 by the IUCN. Taxonomy and etymology The red-breasted goose is sometimes placed ...

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

and common crane, as well as by the

white-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'') is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Palearctic, Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which includes other diur ...

. 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 white-fronted goose (''A. albifrons''). It breeds in the northernmost Palearctic, but it is a scarce breeder in Europe. There is a re-introduction sche ...

.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