The Schwentine Oxbow Lake is an area around part of the River Schwentine between Raisdorf

Raisdorf

Raisdorf is a former municipality in the district of Plön, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated approx. 9km southeast of Kiel. Until 2003 it was twinned with Uttoxeter, United Kingdom. On 1 March 2008, it was merged with Klausdorf to form the town Schwentinental....

 and Klausdorf that was designated a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 in 1984. It received this conservation status because the waterbody has remained close to its natural state due to its steep river banks and is a habitat for a range of rare plants and animals. It covers an area of 19 hectares (46.9 acre). In addition to the section of river it includes an oxbow lake

Oxbow lake

An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water formed when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off to create a lake. This landform is called an oxbow lake for the distinctive curved shape, named after part of a yoke for oxen. In Australia, an oxbow lake is called a billabong, derived...

, a tributary, hedgerows, wooded river banks and slopes, rich in herbs, and small ponds.

The Schwentine valley, in which the nature reserve lies, was formed from a chain of dead-icefields that were left behind after the last ice age

Ice age

An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...

. After they had melted a chain of dammed-up lakes was formed and, when the water forced its way out, the present river valley of the Schwentine emerged.

Fauna

Amongst the animal species occurring in the nature reserve are fish such as the Trout

Trout

Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...

, Bleak, Burbot

Burbot

The burbot is the only gadiform fish inhabiting freshwaters. It is also known as mariah, the lawyer, and eelpout. It is closely related to the marine common ling and the cusk...

 and Stickleback

Stickleback

The Gasterosteidae are a family of fish including the sticklebacks. FishBase currently recognises sixteen species in the family, grouped in five genera. However several of the species have a number of recognised subspecies, and the taxonomy of the family is thought to be in need of revision...

. It is also home to the Blue-tailed Damselfly

Blue-tailed Damselfly

The Blue-tailed Damselfly, Ischnura elegans, is a European damselfly.Adult male Blue-tailed Damselflies have a head and thorax patterned with blue and black. They have a largely black abdomen with very narrow pale markings where each segment joins the next...

 and the Emerald Dragonfly

Somatochlora

Somatochlora is a genus of dragonflies in the family Corduliidae. Members of this genus are medium-sized dragonflies with dark bodies and a metallic green lustre....

. Native bird species include the Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

The Grey Wagtail is a small member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae. The species looks similar to the Yellow Wagtail but has the yellow on its underside restricted to the throat and vent. Breeding males have a black throat...

 and White-throated Dipper

White-throated Dipper

The White-throated Dipper , also known as the European Dipper or just Dipper is an aquatic passerine bird found in Europe, Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. The species is divided into several subspecies, based primarily on colour differences, particularly of the pectoral band...

. The first two breed in the nature reserve, whilst the dipper only rests and overwinters. In the ponds amongst the grasslands there are amphibians like the Common toad

Common Toad

The common toad or European toad is an amphibian widespread throughout Europe, with the exception of Iceland, Ireland and some Mediterranean islands...

, Smooth Newt

Smooth Newt

The Smooth Newt, also known as the Common Newt, Lissotriton vulgaris is the most common newt species of the Lissotriton genus of amphibians. L...

, Water Frog

Water frog

Water frog may refer to one of several species of frog:* Species in the genus Pelophylax, widespread in Eurasia, with a few species ranging into northern Africa.* Species in the genus Telmatobius, native to the Andean highlands in South America....

, Common Frog

Common Frog

The Common Frog, Rana temporaria also known as the European Common Frog or European Common Brown Frog is found throughout much of Europe as far north as well north of the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and as far east as the Urals, except for most of Iberia, southern Italy, and the southern Balkans...

 and Moor Frog

Moor Frog

The Moor Frog is a slim, reddish-brown, semi-aquatic amphibian native to Europe and Asia. It is a member of the family Ranidae, or "true frogs".-Taxonomy:...

 as well as Grass Snake

Grass Snake

The grass snake , sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake is a European non-venomous snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians.-Etymology:...

s. The hedgerows are used by many animals including the Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

The Red-backed Shrike is a carnivorous passerine bird and member of the shrike family Laniidae.English common names include 'Wariangle' and 'worrier'.-Description:...

, Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

The Great Spotted Woodpecker , Dendrocopos major, is a bird species of the woodpecker family . It is distributed throughout Europe and northern Asia, and usually resident year-round except in the colder parts of its range...

 aund Tawny Owl

Tawny Owl

The Tawny Owl or Brown Owl is a stocky, medium-sized owl commonly found in woodlands across much of Eurasia. Its underparts are pale with dark streaks, and the upperparts are either brown or grey. Several of the eleven recognised subspecies have both variants...

.

Flora

In the near-natural riparian woods, ash and alder trees abound. In spring Yellow Wood Anemone, Bulbous Corydalis

Corydalis

Corydalis is a genus of about 470 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the fumewort family , native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere and the high mountains of tropical eastern Africa...

 and Lesser Celandine

Lesser celandine

Lesser celandine is a low-growing, hairless perennial plant, with fleshy dark green, heart-shaped leaves. The plant is found throughout Europe and west Asia and is now introduced in North America. It prefers bare, damp ground and in the UK it is often a persistent garden weed...

 blossom in the woods. Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage

Chrysosplenium

Chrysosplenium is a genus of 57 species of flowering plants in the family Saxifragaceae...

 and Primrose

Primula vulgaris

Primula vulgaris is a species of Primula native to western and southern Europe , northwest Africa , and southwest Asia...

 grow on the wetter tracts of the nature reserve. There are also Marsh Marigold meadows which are also graced by flowers such as the Western Marsh Orchid

Western marsh orchid

The western marsh orchid is a terrestrial European orchid. Its flowering period begins at lower elevations as early as the beginning of May and ends in higher elevations at the end of July...

, Water Avens und Goldilocks Buttercup

Ranunculus

Ranunculus is a large genus of about 600 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus include the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine....

.

Sources

• Landesamt für Natur und Umwelt des Landes Schleswig-Holstein (Hrsg): einzigartig – Naturführer durch Schleswig Holstein, Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 2008, ISBN 978-3-529-05415-0