Mettnau is a peninsula, located east of the town of Radolfzell in the western part of Lake Constance. It lies between the '' Markelfingen corner'' in the north and the '' Zeller See'' in the south and has a length of 3.5 kilometers and a width of up to 800 meters, a size of 140 hectares.

NABU Nabu ( akk, cuneiform: 𒀭𒀝 Nabû syr, ܢܵܒܼܘܼ\ܢܒܼܘܿ\ܢܵܒܼܘܿ Nāvū or Nvō or Nāvō) is the ancient Mesopotamian patron god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes, and wisdom. Etymology and meaning The Akkadian "nab ...

Mettnau. A large part of the peninsula is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

. The Nature Reserve Mettnau includes a small island name Love Island. It is managed by

Naturschutzbund Deutschland The Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V. ("Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union") or NABU is a German non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to conservation at home and abroad, including the protection of rivers, forests and individ ...

on behalf of the

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

. A spa is located on the island, and a field station of the

Bird observatory A bird observatory is a centre for the study of bird migration and bird populations. They are usually focused on local birds, but may also include interest in far-flung areas. Most bird observatories are small operations with a limited staff, man ...

Radolfzell.

Nature Reserve

The nature reserve of Mettnau was established in 1926 by the town of Radolfzell, but only expanded to its current size of 140 hetctaresin 1984. A

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from ...

was accidentally created when the peninsula was used as a landfill. The pond is independent of fluctuations in the water of Lake Constance, making it an attractive place for

hatching Hatching (french: hachure) is an artistic technique used to create tonal or shading Shading refers to the depiction of depth perception in 3D models (within the field of 3D computer graphics) or illustrations (in visual art) by varying ...

ducks. It is close to the nutrient-rich shallow-water zones of ''Markelfingen corner'', which provides food for the ducks and their offspring.

References and sources

* Peter Berthold, Karl Mühl and Siegfried Schuster: ''Naturschutzgebiet Halbinsel Mettnau: Geschichte - Natur - Landschaft'', Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Bodensee, Constance, 1979

Footnotes

Geography of Lake Constance {{BadenWürttemberg-geo-stub