Hutovo Blato

Hutovo Blato is a Nature park and Bird Reserve located in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is primarily marshland created by the underground aquifer system of the Krupa River. It is fed from the limestone massif of Ostrvo that divides the Deransko and Svitavsko lakes.

Hutovo Blato is located 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the town of Čapljina. There is no entrance fee to the park and it is open year-round. It has a picnic area, a restaurant/café and a newly renovated hotel.

The reserve is on the list of BirdLife International's Important Bird Areas. It is the largest reserve of its kind in the region, in terms of both size and diversity. It is home to over 240 typesFact|date=September 2008 of migratory birds and dozens that make their permanent home in the sub-Mediterranean wetlands surrounding Deransko Lake. In the migration season, tens of thousands of birds fill the lake and its surroundings.

Since 1995, Hutovo Blato has been protected as a National Park managed by the Hutovo Blato Public Enterprise.

In Hutovo Blato 163 bird species are registered.

Bird observations in Hutovo Blato

Systematic list of registered species o­n April 13th 2001. [ [http://www.ptice.net/index.php?module=dpDocs&func=display&mid=29 PTICE.NET :: Portal ljubitelja ptica i prirode (dpDocs) ] ] :

*Tachybaptus ruficollis (Little Grebe)
*Podiceps cristatus (Great Crested Grebe)
*Phalacrocorax carbo (Great Cormorant)
*Phalacrocorax pygmaeus (Pygmy Cormorant)
*Egretta garzetta (Little Egret)
*Ardea cinerea (Grey Heron)
*Ardea purpurea (Purple Heron)
*Anas strepera (Gadwall)
*Anas platyrhynchos (Mallard)
*Anas querquedula (Garganey)
*Circaetus gallicus (Short-toed Eagle)
*Circus aeruginosus (Western Marsh Harrier)
*Buteo buteo (Common Buzzard)
*Fulica atra (Eurasian Coot)
*Philomachus pugnax (Ruff)
*Tringa glareola (Wood Sandpiper)
*Larus ridibundus (Black-headed Gull)
*Larus cachinnans (Yellow-legged Gull)
*Apus melba (Alpine Swift)
*Hirundo rustica (Barn Swallow)
*Motacilla alba (White Wagtail)
*Luscinia megarhynchos (Common Nightingale)
*Cettia cetti (Cetti's Warbler)
*Sylvia cantillans (Subalpine Warbler)
*Sylvia atricapilla (Blackcap)
*Aegithalos caudatus (Long-tailed Tit)
*Remiz pendulinus (Eurasian Penduline Tit)
*Corvus cornix (Hooded Crow)
*Passer domesticus (House sparrow)
*Fringilla coelebs (Chaffinch)
*Serinus serinus (European Serin)
*Emberiza cirlus (Cirl Bunting)
*Miliaria calandra (Corn Bunting)

See also

*List of National parks and Nature parks in Bosnia and Herzegovina
*Important Bird Area
*Čapljina
*Prebilovci (a village just inside the Hutovo Blato area)

External links

* http://www.hutovo-blato.ba/

References