Norsminde Fjord is an inlet on the east coast of peninsular Denmark at the village of Norsminde, some 20 km south of

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

. The inlet is about long and at the widest point and is shared between

and

Odder Municipality Odder Municipality is a municipality (Danish: '' kommune'') in the Central Denmark Region on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in Central Denmark south of Aarhus. It is a part of the greater Aarhus area. The municipality covers an area of 2 ...

. The south section of Norsminde Fjord has been drained and is today

coastal meadow Coastal meadows are Meadow, meadows in the coastal zone, influenced by the sea. Under this definition, the salinity of the air and wind is usually high and the flora is dominated by salt-tolerant species. Some coastal meadows may be flooded by s ...

s, marsh or wetlands with rushes, mainly used for grazing animals. It is these wetlands in the south of the fjord that is known as ''Kysing Fjord'' which is

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

site (no. 59) and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

Special Protection Areas A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...

bird sanctuary (no. 30). The bird sanctuary has a special focus on the

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 ...

but other rare birds also nest in the area.

History

Norsminde Fjord is an East Jutland Fjord, a glacial moraine valley, created during the

Weichselian glaciation The Weichselian glaciation was the last glacial period and its associated glaciation in northern parts of Europe. In the Alpine region it corresponds to the Würm glaciation. It was characterized by a large ice sheet (the Fenno-Scandian ice sheet) ...

c. 20,000 to 70,000 years ago. The stream Rævs Å flows into the fjord and over time it has suffered silting and become increasingly shallow. In 1832 the southern part of the Fjord was drained and made into farmland or wet meadows for animal grazing. In 1942 the remaining fjord and surrounding meadows were designated a wilderness preserve. However, the drained lands proved fertile and a good investment so in the 1950s it was attempted to drain the rest of the fjord. The draining effort failed and instead a

sluice Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...

was installed to control water levels and flooding. The areas that were drained is today known as ''Kysing Fjord'', of drained wetlands consisting mostly of wet and

s. The area has suffered damage from fertilizer runoff and wastewater from

Odder Odder is a town in Jutland, Denmark. The town is the seat of Odder municipality, and is the biggest town in the municipality. It is located 20 km south of Aarhus and 16 km south-east of Skanderborg. Odder is part of Business Region Aarhus, and t ...

and Malling over the years causing issues with

algae bloom An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in Fresh water, freshwater or Ocean, marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ...

s that displace vegetation and animals. Kysing Fjord is today a natural preserve.

Nature preserve

Many species of birds are found at the fjord and the inner wetlands but the nature preservation has a special focus on the

. It is a migratory bird which eats underwater vegetation and forages on wintergreen meadows. During mild winters the whooper swan stays in the area from April to November and the flocks here has been recorded to reach some 12,000 birds. The number of swans wintering in the area has risen over the years, possibly as a result of milder winters or maybe an enlarged area suitable for foraging. In and around the fjord the most common species of birds are

eurasian coot The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...

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. ...

eurasian wigeon The Eurasian wigeon or European wigeon (''Mareca penelope''), also known as the widgeon or the wigeon, is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus ''Mareca''. It is common and widespread within its Palearctic range. Taxonomy Th ...

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

golden plover '' Pluvialis '' is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds comprising four species that breed in the temperate or Arctic Northern Hemisphere. In breeding plumage, they all have largely black underparts, and golden or silvery upperparts. Th ...

tufted duck The tufted duck or tufted pochard (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of close to one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek '' aithuia'', an unidentified seabird ment ...

eurasian teal The Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca''), common teal, or Eurasian green-winged teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in temperate Eurosiberia and migrates south in winter. The Eurasian teal is often called simply the teal due to being th ...

mute swan The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurosiberia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home ...

, a number of

wader 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

s and, during cold winters, the

common merganser The common merganser (North American) or goosander (Eurasian) (''Mergus merganser'') is a large seaduck of rivers and lakes in forested areas of Europe, Asia, and North America. The common merganser eats mainly fish. It nests in holes in trees. ...

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 ...

and

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...

s also have a presence in the area, both very rare and endangered birds in Denmark. The dominant species at Norsminde Fjord are

dabbling ducks The Anatinae are a subfamily of the family Anatidae (swans, geese and ducks). Its surviving members are the dabbling ducks, which feed mainly at the surface rather than by diving. The other members of the Anatinae are the extinct moa-nalo, a youn ...

, a result of the large number of surface algae caused by previous years

nutrient pollution Nutrient pollution, a form of water pollution, refers to contamination by excessive inputs of nutrients. It is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters (lakes, rivers and coastal waters), in which excess nutrients, usually nitrogen or ...

from poor wastewater management and fertilizer runoff.

Gallery

Norsminde Fjord fra nord.jpg, Norsminde Fjord viewed towards the Bay of Aarhus, with the village of Norsminde at the seaside. Norsminde slusen.jpg, The

and bridge barring the lake from the sea. Norsminde Fjord fra sydøst.jpg, Norsminde Fjord and surrounding landscape. Norsminde Fjord2.jpg,

Reed bed A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

s and periodically submerged islets at the lake.

References

External links

{{Odder Municipality Fjords of Denmark Aarhus Municipality Odder Municipality Natura 2000 in Denmark Special Protection Areas