Kolon lake at Izsák

 lake, birdwatching area, marsh, nature conservation park / area

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Area: 2962 hectares., Only guided tours are available, but it cannot be visited during hatching periods at all. The area can be easily observed from the 126 meter high sand-hill called Bikatorok (Bull's Throat).

The fifteen thousand year old lake emerged in one of the branches of the Ancient Danube and later it got separated. It is seven km long and three km wide. Its water supply is provided exclusively by underground water and rain. Because of the plants in the lake, the organic material content of the lake increased and the siltation of the lake began, as well as the formation of peat. At present the Kolon lake is in the phase of a late, aging, swamping period, which was supported by drainage, too. Due to active nature conservation, recently the water level of the lake has been stabilized. Even so, merely six hectars of the water-surface is open, which is surrounded by vast, dense reeds in the north, marshy, boggy areas, fenwoods, marsh-meadows in the south.
The richness of the flora and fauna of the largest lake of the national park is unparalleled. The open water surfaces are covered by water-lily, and pondweed (Potamogeton), the rare nettle (Urtica) still can be spotted in the reeds. Nine orchid species, the Siberian- and the blue iris (Iris spuria) grow in the marsh-meadows. Besides the alder fenwoods, the area is lined with the remnants of the former oak-ash fenwoods along the Danube near Páhi.
Besides the exteremly rich avifauna of the area – all the nine heron species hatching in Hungary can be found here – the rare European mud-minnow and the weather-fish, the European pond tortoise (Emys orbicularis) can surrive in the marshes around the lake. Out of mammals, the otter (Lutra lutra), weasel (Mustela nivalis) and the harvest mouse live in the area.