Haidary. March 24, 2023

Since the madness of the war's escalation following Muscovy's attack on most of Ukraine in February 2022, I had not gone on a single field trip for work. Once I went to Tymchenky on my wheelchair, once I went to Haidary for Groundhog Day... So I decided to return to normal work. At the end of March — beginning of April, the spawning of common toads should be starting in Haidary. The last few days had been warm, and I set off to check whether the spawning had begun and how things were going in places I know well. It was very warm — about 17°C. However, a cold snap is expected in a few days. It is unclear what state the common toad population at Iskov Pond is in. We have been studying its dynamics using the mark-recapture method since 2000. Major problems in the population began in 2020. This was a consequence of the pond drying up. In 2021 the population was still alive and there was hope it would survive. What happened in 2022 — I do not know. And so — spring 2023... [IMG_1] For many years in a row I went to Haidary for the toad and frog spawning, conducted fieldwork there, and simply went there to rest. Now there was a break in time. I made an attempt to return, at least partially. The feeling — like returning «home», although, of course, my home is in Kharkiv. The road is in rather poor condition — cut through by ravines... [IMG_2] Where Iskov Pond once began — a small puddle [IMG_3] Found no one in it, only water striders [IMG_4] The wheelchair provides strange mobility. How would I live without it? [IMG_5] A marker of the start of toad spawning — the flowering of coltsfoot, common colt's-foot. It is blooming! [IMG_6] At the cattle watering trough — still ice. No toads. [IMG_7] The pond itself has cleared of ice [IMG_8] There are few animals. Mallards circle around [IMG_9] Not much water... [IMG_10] Willow [IMG_11] These are witch's brooms; for some reason there are many of them here [IMG_12] Not long ago this entire old raft was in the water [IMG_13] Most likely, the water will recede from here [IMG_14] Cattail down is carried by the wind. It clings to everything... [IMG_15] Attempts were made to replenish the pond with water through this pipe [IMG_16] Gagea (the stars are small) [IMG_17] Patches on the water are formed by the wind [IMG_18] [IMG_19] Old and young. Time will pass, and these young rosettes will turn into old columns, and nothing will remain of these columns [IMG_20] On this pine there was a woodpecker's anvil [IMG_21] A static picture from which one can reconstruct history. A car broke off a branch and crushed it in the rut [IMG_22] Koryakov Ravine. Everything here is in ice [IMG_23] The only amphibian I saw: a female moor frog [IMG_24] The warmth gradually gnaws away pieces of ice [IMG_25] The sun breaks through the clouds and reflects in the water [IMG_26] Once you could hear the voices of toads, garlic toads, and moor frogs here. For now — only insects and birds [IMG_27] How many times in my life have I approached and driven up to the gates of the biological field station! Why, year after year, do I come to the field station, search for toads, photograph spring flowers? And I never tire of it... On this trip I thought about the fact that for each of us the «self» is a story we tell about ourselves, including to ourselves. I realized how great a role Haidary plays in my story about myself. All the key stages of life, starting from the first year of university, are connected to this place. [IMG_28] [IMG_29] [IMG_30] The next frames show two of «my» homes, the second-to-last and the last. The second-to-last is barely visible through the branches. For several years we lived here in a strange commune. The relationships with my students, then graduate students and colleagues, with whom we worked and rested here, will not be repeated. Olena and Olya defended their dissertations in Ukraine (but are now abroad), Alena and Nastya left earlier and defended abroad. Things will never be the way they were then. The house was split by a large crack; it is almost impossible to repair: it has slid down the slope. You look at it, recall what was here, and realize that it is gone forever. It is unpleasant to go in there: ruins where my family and I were once happy. I fear the same is true of our pre-war life. [IMG_31] And this is the «new» house, behind the water tower. Of course, it is not new; it is the old radio faculty building. It awaits renovation and repair. Currently there are signs of mice having taken over, traces of the fact that last year it was not used for its intended purpose. It can be brought to a state where it will be pleasant to live in (no longer quite the commune it once was), but for this a new life must be established. Will there be enough strength for this? We shall see... [IMG_32] The entire field station is waiting for students. It is — a pearl of our faculty, one of the pillars of biological education. First, COVID dealt a severe blow to our normal work, then another, much more painful one — the war. We will endure this too, of course... [IMG_33] The dining hall renovation was not finished in time — although it is functional even now [IMG_34] On the Ivanytsky house — a squirrel that had pilfered a piece of bread from somewhere [IMG_35] [IMG_36] Why are these paving slabs on the path from the upper yard to the lower one important to me? I took part in laying them! As a student, thirty-eight years ago, in spring 1985... [IMG_37] [IMG_38] [IMG_39] [IMG_40] I would stick the knife with the cutting edge facing down... [IMG_41] And the semi-parasitic mistletoe — young and fresh! [IMG_42] A legendary place — the bower of love [IMG_43] The Donets has flooded [IMG_44] A whole life has passed here... [IMG_45] [IMG_46] What do military people do when they end up somewhere? They dig into the ground. At the field station, traces of their temporary stay remain [IMG_47] Our laboratory [IMG_48] [IMG_49] I cannot help but rejoice that I still see my reflection in the glass. Will it be like this for a long time, I wonder? [IMG_50] [IMG_51] [IMG_52] When will the radar resume working? [IMG_53] Red bugs — «moskaliky» die under the wheels of vehicles, then come to suck the fluid from their dead kin. And also die under the wheels [IMG_54] Just so. Near the turn to Stari Haidary... Strange times have come. What will happen next? [IMG_55] [IMG_56]