May 17–19. A Trip to Sloviansk District with a Stop in Izium

Not on the first attempt, but we finally managed to find hybrid frogs in the Sloviansk district of Donetsk Oblast. The trip began with a visit to the small town of Mykolaivka, located near the Sloviansk power plant, and ended with a night visit to Izium. The trip was memorable, and I even wrote a column about it (about stereo hearing). Some of the peculiarities of this expedition are explained there. [IMG_1] Mykolaivka is a neat little town built at the same time as the power plant. As you can see, there are educational centres... [IMG_2] ...and sculptural extravagances. [IMG_3] These are openwork sculptures made from metal parts. [IMG_4] Where there is a church, there is a priest's house. Probably the finest in town. [IMG_5] Candidates from the BYuT (Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko) swear not to defect to the Party of Regions. [IMG_6] Throughout the trip, the weather was unstable and threatened rain. [IMG_7] Many details look quite neat. [IMG_8] On the first night, we could not find hybrid frogs. When I sensed things were heading that way, I was so upset that I didn't even bother photographing. Alas, in the part of the floodplain forest accessible to us from Mykolaivka, as well as on the Siverskyi Donets itself, we could only catch marsh frogs. [IMG_9] The next day, we drove a roundabout way into the meander that the Siverskyi Donets forms near the Sloviansk power plant. The power plant, as you can see, is a serious facility; its smoke stretches over the entire area (but probably descends to the ground at some distance from the point of emission). [IMG_10] One of the joys of the trip was encountering a roe deer. We startled it from its resting spot in a clearing. It ran a short distance away but stopped to look us over. [IMG_11] And this is a hawfinch. Here it is sitting... [IMG_12] ...and here it is flying. Obviously, this photo is technically flawed, but it is quite expressive nonetheless. [IMG_13] Fortunately, we found an oxbow lake, in the overgrown corner of which sat small hybrid frogs, Pelophylax esculentus. These are probably mostly triploids, but that of course needs to be verified. [IMG_14] Catching frogs during the day is no easy task. [IMG_15] A professional. [IMG_16] In some places, the banks are difficult to traverse. [IMG_17] A wild boar trail crosses the oxbow. Apparently, they rubbed their sides against the trees here (though in that case it's unclear why they stripped the bark between the trunks). [IMG_18] A triploid? [IMG_19] Typical edible frogs. [IMG_20] It started raining. [IMG_21] The quiet patter of rain harmonises well with the song of the fire-bellied toad. [IMG_22] A cockchafer (May beetle). [IMG_23] This is some strange object, created by an insect unknown to me, from several leaves rolled into a single tube. The "tentacles" on the right are the petioles of these leaves. [IMG_24] This is where wild boar wallow in the mud. [IMG_25] If only one could decipher these... Traces from the tunnels of some wood-boring beetles on an old trunk, scattered with elm seeds. [IMG_26] The raindrops were special – they formed circles on the water. [IMG_27] [IMG_28] Some strange galls on the leaves, multi-coloured... [IMG_29] ...and a huge burl on a tree trunk. ..[IMG_30] An almost expressionist brushstroke. [IMG_31] A feeding trough for ungulates. [IMG_32] [IMG_33] On the left – an ash tree, on the right – a box elder (Acer negundo). [IMG_34] On a large log there lay an old rag. Removing it, we exposed part of an ant nest... [IMG_35] ...and also deprived certain other creatures of their shelter. [IMG_36] A millipede (Julida). [IMG_37] Slightly worn out. [IMG_38] [IMG_39] [IMG_40] A yearling sand lizard in the grass. Look how the stripes on its body resemble old blades of grass! [IMG_41] An Italian striped bug on birthwort. [IMG_42] Starting a fire from wet branches is no easy task... [IMG_43] ...but we managed. [IMG_44] Fire, as always, is mesmerising. [IMG_45] Just a bottle of sparkling water. [IMG_46] This was good. [IMG_47] No need to hurry anywhere. [IMG_48] Black flies. [IMG_49] Contact. [IMG_50] Some cunning forest fly: look at those long legs. [IMG_51] A spadefoot toad. [IMG_52] We inflated a boat and paddled into the wider part of the oxbow. Here there were only Pelophylax ridibundus, individuals of the parental species. Can you see how the water is steaming? [IMG_53] And in some places, the fog gathers in enormous billows. [IMG_54] And this is a cinnabar moth, Tyria jacobaeae, sitting on the side of the boat. [IMG_55] We caught what we wanted and set off on the return trip. This is a European green toad that we spotted at a petrol station along the way. [IMG_56] And this is a morning photograph. The hostess and her house. We arrived at about three in the morning and fell into her hospitable embrace. Fish soup from salmon, home-cured salmon and everything else. Thank you! [IMG_57] And in the cellar of this house live newts. Whenever we visit, we take them out of the cellar and release them into the garden. [IMG_58] [IMG_59] The house is guarded by a succession (over generations) of Central Asian Shepherd Dogs – Alabais. [IMG_60] The characteristic gaze of an Alabai. The lower eyelid is drooping, often slightly inflamed as if from lack of sleep, the look is distrustful... That's it, the trip was over. Thank you to everyone who helped us along the way!