Volga Delta

The Volga Delta is the delta of the Volga River on the Caspian Sea in the southeast of the European part of Russia and in the extreme western Kazakhstan.

Geography

The Volga Delta is located in the northern part of the Caspian Sea basin. It begins with the city Wolschski where the estuary Akhtuba ( by far the longest of all Volga arms ) branches of the Volga. From there, the initially narrow delta moves toward the southeast, where the Volga and Akhtuba form the largest river, parallel to each other and are mutually ramifies.

Much farther to the southeast of Wolschski starts at about the city of Astrakhan (formerly Itil ), where at the Volga Delta aufästelt in many estuaries, the main area of ​​the Volga Delta. The river delta is in the mouth region on the Caspian Sea, the largest lake in the world, about 180 kilometers wide, where it extends between Lagan Kalmykia (southwest) and Ganjuschkino in Kazakhstan ( north-east).

At the output of the Volga Delta Volga flows with numerous mouth poor in the north-western part of the Caspian Sea. The main river channels of the Delta are ( from west to east): Bachtemir, Volga, Tabola and Akhtuba. The lake shore is reached about 75 to 100 km to the south or south-east of Astrakhan from these and other estuary of the Volga.

Nature Conservation / Wildlife

The Volga Delta, are of the large components under protection, is an important stopover for migratory birds on their way south, and even more importantly remaining habitat for many other species such as the sturgeon, whose fishing is strictly regulated here. Illegal sturgeon ( for trade in caviar ) and water pollution have stocks shrink greatly.

Bird fauna

In the Volga Delta and its surroundings there is a unique concentration of birds: whooper swans, mute swans, cormorants, herons, night herons, egrets, little egrets, Purple Heron, Spoonbill, Glossy Ibis, Little Bittern, Dalmatian pelicans, pygmy bustards, waders, bags tits, bearded tits, bee-eaters, flamingos, fish gulls, geese rust, Pochard, Ferruginous Ducks, Garganey, Smew, Red-footed Falcon, terns, eagles, osprey and many more.

Fish fauna

The Volga Delta belongs to the Danube Delta and 230 freshwater fish species occurring there as one of the richest fishing areas in Central Asia and Europe. In the lower reaches of the Volga between Volgograd and Astrakhan to find one of the largest deposits of wild carp with an average weight of 12 kg, up to 35 kg can also be difficult here. Growth is favored by the high water temperatures in summer ( up to max. 26-28 ° C and outdoor temperature of 50 ° C ), many mussel beds and a large area flooded riparian zones that provide the carp a high volume of food. In addition, there are many other predatory fish such as silver carp, bream, roach and bream. Rudd show different here than in Central Europe with increasing size a predatory behavior. The predators dominate in the Volga pike, asp, Volga pikeperch and there up to 100 kilos becoming catfish. From Astrakhan from fishing trips were organized ( Heribert 's Fishing Tours from 1990 to 1995 in the Karai LODGE, a former hunting Datcha the Russian President ) in the water landscape of lakes, ponds, ditches, swamps, reed islands and floodplain forests by the end of June after the flood season.

Flora

The Volga Delta is a natural oasis between the Caspian Sea and the semi-deserts of the Caspian basin, partly rich sand dunes to short the banks approach. In the Volga delta can be found both north - boreal and Mediterranean vegetation. In addition to a variety of aquatic plants, reeds, water lilies, water lilies, lotuses, water chestnut, floating heart, there are extensive woods in the riparian zone. Due to the severe flooding to numerous floating debris and dead wood found in the river network of the Volga Delta.