Winter turned out severe this year. One could often see dead pigeons scattered on the ground and stray dogs with frost-bitten paws. There is, however, a sizable flock of swans that feels more comfortable. For the past decade the birds have spent the winter on a non-freezing lake in Chortoryia, the home village of the film director and actor Ivan Mykolaichuk. Three years ago an ornithological preserve was set up here.
According to Serhii Petrashchuk, a ranger of the regional branch of the Hunters and Fishermen’s Society of Ukraine, at first only several swan couples flew to spend the winter on the lake, but the number kept growing with each year, setting a record 150 white swans in 2006.
This year there are about 100. Volodymyr Solodky, deputy head of regional environmental protection directorate, explains this reduction by the flood in 2008, when the springs that feed the lake and keep it from freezing over were silted up. The springs were cleaned up in the spring that same year, but then there was draught. The water level dropped to a critical mark, so when the heavy frost struck in 2009, the lake froze almost to the bottom, with only a small spot of clear water in the middle where the swans had to press tight to each other.
“We had to use excavators to make the lake deeper and broader, so the swans feel better now, as do people who visit them,” says Solodky.
Petrashchuk who is looking after the birds, adds that people come from Bukovyna and neighboring oblasts to admire the gracious birds. Entire families and groups of visitors come. Some bring loaves of bread, bucketfuls of corn, or sackfuls of grain. The birds welcome the food but never take it out of the hand.
“They are cautious, although they are very strong and can defend themselves. A swan can kill a dog or a fox with its wings, so they keep clear of them, even during the night as the birds are sleeping, when the animals can crawl up to them across the ice. The only real danger comes from man. At one time poachers tried to catch swans with fishing rods and thick mush bait, but the swans proved too smart for them.”
There has been only one case of blatant pouching in Chortoryia. Some monster in human form killed a female swan in her nest (several swan pairs live in Chortoryia for a year and have cygnets). It was then Petrashchuk happened to witness the swan’s faithfulness. The bird flew up high, then folded its wings, and dropped to the ground.
Fortunately, there have been no more such tragedies. Swans must attract only kind-hearted people.
