TEHRAN – The international wetlands in northern Golestan province are playing host to the first batch of migratory birds which traveled thousands of kilometers through the cold regions of Russian Siberia to winter in the country.

Migratory birds are now observed in groups of 10 and 20 by rangers and local people in the wetlands and ponds of Gonbad-e Kavous city; other flocks will also wing their way to the area during the next few days.

Various species of migratory birds, including different species of ducks, pelicans, swans, greylag goose, vultures, flamingos, coots, and cormorants, landed in the three international lagoons of Almagol, Alagol, and Ajigol every year from mid-autumn for wintering, IRNA quoted Mohammad Dardi, the head of the Gonbad-e Kavous department of environment, as saying on Wednesday.

On average, 30,000 to 40,000 migratory birds of different species come to these wetlands and reservoirs every year, and if the cold weather intensifies in Siberia, their population in the region will increase, he noted.

He went on to say that due to the amount of precipitation the city received over the last year and this year, the condition for the breeding of migratory birds in the city's wetlands and reservoirs is suitable.

Alagol, Ulmagol, and Ajigol Lakes are located in northern Mazandaran province with an area of 1,400 hectares; added to the Montreux Record, in 1993. Ulmagol and Ajigol are seasonally-filled freshwater lakes, fed by autumn and winter rains, which become desiccated in drought periods. Alagol is slightly saline and fringed by extensive reed and grass marshes.

Ulmagol is sparsely vegetated. There are several human settlements. The site supports Anatidae (ducks, geese, swans, etc.), flamingos, and nesting White-tailed Plover. Placed on the Montreux Record in 1993 due to high levels of disturbance from wildfowl hunters and the extraction of water for irrigation purposes, which has lowered lake levels considerably, especially during summer.

FB/MG