“Wielikąt” Nature and Landscape Complex

The “Wielikąt” Nature and Landscape Complex is a complex of fish ponds in Lubomia municipality in Wodzisław County, important for waterbirds. It was established in 1993 by order of the Katowice Voivode, after years of effort by naturalists, among them the Upper Silesian Ornithological Circle and the Polish Society of Friends of Nature “pro Natura”.

What the area looks like

The complex covers the breeding ponds of the “Wielikąt” Fish Farm with the surrounding fields and meadows, 642.81 hectares in total. Water takes up 370.5 hectares of this. There are nine larger ponds with an area of 17 to 40 hectares and a dozen or so small ones. Along the dykes grow reed beds with common reed and bulrush, as well as the rare yellow iris, together with pedunculate oaks, maples, sycamores, birches and alders. The ponds are fed by the Syrynka and Lubomka streams, and a freight railway line runs through the middle of the complex.

Birds

So far 236 bird species have been recorded here, 129 of them breeding or probably breeding. Breeding birds include the bittern, little bittern, gadwall, ferruginous duck, white-tailed eagle, kingfisher and bearded reedling. In the 1990s the ponds were the most important moulting site for mute swans in south-western Poland, and up to 1,300 birds gathered here. During migration rare species have been observed, among them the Dalmatian pelican, little egret and griffon vulture.

Protection

In 2004 the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds recognised the ponds, together with the neighbouring Tworków Forest, as an internationally important bird refuge (IBA). In 2008 it was included in the Natura 2000 special protection area for birds, “Wielikąt Ponds and Tworków Forest”.

Educational path and surroundings

A 4-kilometre educational path was laid out in 2003. In the area lies Lubomia, and in the same municipality stands the Church of St Mary Magdalene. A close neighbour in terms of nature is the “Bociek” complex.

Practical information

• Location: near Lubomia, east of the Oder, which flows about 450 metres west of the ponds.
• The ponds are in commercial use, so keep to the educational path and public roads, and check the rules of entry with Lubomia municipality.