Łuknajno (German : ''Lucknainer See'') is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

and nature-reserve in the

Masurian Lake District The Masurian Lake District or Masurian Lake Land () is a lake district in northeastern Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpath ...

of north-eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. Łuknajno also has a forester's lodge situated near its northern shore.

Łuknajno Lake

The lake is the site of a nature reserve. Originally designated a reserve under the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

in 1937, and then also acknowledged as a reserve under the PRL in 1947, since 1977 the lake has been designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and a Ramsar site, in view of its importance as a breeding ground for water birds such as

grebe Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order (biology), order Podicipediformes (). Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in sea, marine habitats during Bird migration, migration and winter. Most grebes f ...

, rail, moorhen,

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...

bearded tit The bearded reedling (''Panurus biarmicus'') is a small, long-tailed passerine bird found in reed beds near water in the temperate zone of Eurasia. It is frequently known as the bearded tit or the bearded parrotbill, as it historically was beli ...

white-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), sometimes known as the 'sea eagle', is a large bird of prey, widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which also ...

osprey The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It ...

, rust-coloured

kite A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have ...

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...

and black tern. The lake is known since many decades as the habitat of the

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 Eurasia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home to ...

() – nesting there every year from a dozen to tens of dozen of pairs, and in time of

moult In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is a process by which an animal casts off parts of its body to serve some beneficial purpose, either at ...

arriving in numbers reaching up to 2,000 birds. The lake is part of the larger

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

known as Masurian Landscape Park. Łuknajno covers an area of , and has a maximum depth of . The bottom of the lake is 77% covered with brachiopods ( Characeae), potworms (

Potamogeton ''Potamogeton'' is a genus of aquatic, mostly freshwater, plants of the family Potamogetonaceae. Most are known by the common name pondweed, although many unrelated plants may be called pondweed, such as Canadian pondweed (''Elodea canadensis' ...

), and spearguns ( Myriophyllum). At the banks, there is a strip of reed rush with a small admixture of narrow-leaved cattail and lake bulrush. On the southern and eastern shores, there is a strip of willow thickets and fragments of alders. This creates a favorable shelter for bird nesting and significantly enriches the biotope.

Forest settlement

Originally the site of an inn destroyed by the tartars in 1656, a new inn was established here by Fryderyk Schütz in 1686. By 1838 the site had three houses in which 26 people lived. A manor-house was constructed at the site in the first half of the 19th century. The site was destroyed in the

first world war World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. By 1939 the site was home to 110 people. After the

second world war World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a state farm and forestry office were established at the site. Łuknajno is officially classed as a "forest settlement" (''Osada lesna'').

References

External links

Łuknajno Lake: UNESCO biosphere reserve description
Lakes of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Biosphere reserves of Poland Nature reserves in Poland Natura 2000 in Poland Ramsar sites in Poland {{Poland-protected-area-stub

Łuknajno Lake

Forest settlement

See also

References

External links