Meteliai Regional Park established in 1992, is a natural and cultural reserve in southern Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

.

The park covers about 177 square kilometers, including three lakes: Lake Metelys

Lake Metelys

Lake Metelys is located in southern Lithuania's Alytus County. The lake, covering 1,292 hectares, has a maximum depth of 15 metres. It lies with the boundaries of Meteliai Regional Park...

, Lake Dusia

Lake Dusia

The Dusia lake is the largest lake in Southern Lithuania, Lazdijai district and is part of the Dovinė River basin. Other nearby lakes are Lake Metelys and Lake Obelija....

, and Lake Obelija.. Its geographic features include glacial moraines.

130 bird species breed in the park; it is visited by over 10,000 individuals during migratory seasons. Flocks of up to 2,000 crested grebe

Grebe

A grebe is a member of the Podicipediformes order, a widely distributed order of freshwater diving birds, some of which visit the sea when migrating and in winter...

s, 15,000 coot

Coot

Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family Rallidae. They constitute the genus Fulica. Coots have predominantly black plumage, and, unlike many of the rails, they are usually easy to see, often swimming in open water...

s, and 4,000 tufted duck

Tufted Duck

The Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula, is a medium-sized diving duck with a population of close to one million birds.- Description :The adult male is all black except for white flanks and a blue-grey bill. It has an obvious head tuft that gives the species its name.The adult female is brown with paler...

s have been observed.

The park incorporates a number of villages along with battle sites, churches, cemeteries, and Stone Age

Stone Age

The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

settlements.