Kecskeri-puszta NCA
The legend about János Kara noted down by Ödön Kimnach at the beginning of the 20th century goes: ‘A valiant hero of the name mentioned above wanted to kidnap Ágota, the lover of knight Zádor. Late at night, Kara rode silently to the wayside inn where she lived. Knight Zádor learnt about his plans and prevented the hero from accomplishing his purpose. He couldn't catch him first. Zádor chased after Kara, but caught him only on the border of Kisújszállás where he killed him and trod his body by his horse into the brook nearby. That is why this place is called János Kara.’
1. The past and present status of the area
The last remains of the extensive steppes interspersed with the marshes of Nagykunság as well as its flora and fauna were declared protected on 1226 hectares in 1993. The site is located in the western ourskirts of Karcag city, northwest of the old main road number 4, stretching as far as the western administrative border of the city. The protected area consists of one large and two smaller parts that lie in the called Szolnok-Túri Plain region. Its mission is to protect the characteristic flora and fauna by applying extensive land use techniques (grazing, traditional fishing).
2. Description and nature conservation of the area
The main soil type of the area is the meadow solonetz, the upper layer of which is strongly bleached. On the higher reliefs of the area, there are patches of steppe solonetz soil that originated after the intensive drainage of the region. The majority of the meadows and marshes can be found on meadow solonetz soil. ‘Real’ loess ridges and typical meadow chernozem type soils are not characteristic here. The climate is dry temperate, with an average of 24.3ºC fluctuations in temperature. The number of sunny hours per year is near 2000.
The big southern part of the protected area belongs to the catchment area of the NK-II. drainage system. The 155-hectare Kecskeri-reservoir can be found here. Its original purpose was supplying the nearby rice farms with water. South of this reservoir, there is another 32 hectares fishpond called Vajasi (also known as the Bócsai-pond). To the west of this fishpond, a shallow, 8-hectare nursery pond was established in order to create a habitat for nature conservation purposes. The water supply comes via the NK-III-2 canal. Extensive marshes being the last remains of the famous János Kara marsh spread out on the protected alkaline pastures to the east and west of the ponds. These are valuable wetland habitats. These marshes have no outlet and the surrounding alkaline pastures are practically their catchment areas. Before the water regulation, there used to be a dam serving also as a connecting road between Szolnok and Debrecen, as well as between Kisújszállás and Karcag. Still, for most of the year, one could only cross by boat. The marsh formed the northern part of the Nagy-Sárrét, supplied by the River Tisza through the Mirhó-fok. A well-known watercourse is the Kecske-stream, the deepest part of the marsh system. During the drainage works it was surrounded with a dam and presently serves as a reservoir. Temporary wetlands developed on alkaline soil and marshes covered with water most of the year remained characteristic habitats even after the river regulation. The last remnant of these is the Konta-marsh. To the north of the southern part of the protected area there is another marsh, the so called Dudás-fertő that used to serve as a reservoir with circular dam. It can be filled up only by pump. The marsh called Bige-fertő at the border of Kunhegyes lies outside of the protected area, but it is a particularly nice marsh with tussocks. Mosaics of plant communities are very typical on the diverse ground surface. Almost every characteristic association of the dry alkaline pastures is present on the meadow solonetz type soil of the higher reliefs. The most characteristic associations are the alkaline Achilleo-Festucetum (Achilleo-Festucetum pseudovinae) and the Artemisio-Festucetum grassland (Artemisio-Festucetum pseudovinae). The flora of the ‘vakszik’ is peculiar, because instead of Camphorosma annua, the Small Red Goosefoot, Kochia prostrata and Bassia sedoides are present in great quantities. The latter two are continental and do not exclusively occur on alkaline soil. Cyperus difformis, Typha laxmanni turn up on several wetlands of Kecskeri-puszta. They are considered as wild growing rice-weeds, but they can also be found in alkaline marshes. The water Chestnut live in the surrounding canals. In the deeper parts of the marshes, Duckweeds (Lemna spp.) Floating Ferns, Great-sweet-grasses, Lesser Bulrushes, Common Bulrushes and Common Reeds (Phragmites communis) are characteristic. Narrow strips of the Maritime Bulrush (Bolboschoenetum maritimi) form in the shallows that are only temporarily indundated. Agrostio-Alopecuretum pratensis meadows are characteristic on the higher, wetter, fresh parts. Agrostio-Beckmannietum erudicoformis alkaline foxtail meadows can be found in small patches. Salvio nutanti-nemorosae - Festucetum rupicolae loess grasslands can be found on the highest parts of the area, especially on the border of Karcag-Kunhegyes, on tumuli and mounds. Beside the denominative Festuca rupicola, the couch (Agropyron cristatum) is a typical grass and the Wild Sage and the Austrian Clary are also characteristic.
Our knowledge on the invertebrate fauna is insufficient, but dragonflies and Orthopteroid insects abound in species. The rice apus that was formerly considered as a pest, but rare nowadays, can still be found in shallow waters here. The White-finned Gudgeon, the Mud Loach, the Spined Loach and the Crucian Carp represent an outstanding nature conservation value.
Characteristic amphibians and reptiles are the Warty Newt, the Smooth Newt, the Common Spadefoot, the European Pond Terrapin and the Grass Snake.
The most thourougly examined group is the avifauna. The area plays an important role in bird migration, especially in the migration of ducks, cranes and shorebirds. Also, four strictly protected species nest in the area: the Great White Egret, the Great Bustard, the Collared Pratincole and the Stone Curlew. The reservoir provides good habitat for the Otter and European Sousliks dwell in the loess mounds.
