Top 5 Natural Monuments around Mortara

The heronry, located in western Lomellina, rises in a humid area consisting of the paleoalveo of the Agogna stream, in the municipal area of Zeme (PV). This heronry is the largest of the 13 present throughout the province and also one of the most populous. It is made up of a set of different environments: a humid forest of black alders, some bushy areas of willow, expanses of marsh reeds, mazzasorde, sedges, and vast areas flooded by spring waters devoid of vegetation.

The bumps are tiny hills, generally sandy, which until a few decades ago characterized the landscape of our Lomelline countryside. Most of these very modest reliefs have been leveled to make way for poplar groves and rice fields and the only testimony that remains of them is, in many cases, the ups and downs of the country roads which gives those who walk them the amazement of finding some meters above the level of the cultivated countryside. In the area of the bumps, the alternation of hollows and ridges is visible which testifies to how the surface of our plain has been shaped by the continuous changes in the paths of the rivers, by the incessant work of streams, as well as by the erosion caused by atmospheric agents. Those who pass through Lomellina, after having crossed long stretches of very flat countryside, are pleasantly surprised to discover, in the heart of these centers, small hills flanked by old houses or ancient churches overlooking gently sloping churchyards.

Once at the foot of these waterfalls two beached beaches emerged on both banks of the stream, unfortunately a flood occurred in 2003 irreparably changed the course of the stream by destroying and modifying its conformation, after these events it took human intervention to secure the whole area.

In the immense expanse of paddy fields of the Pavese and Novara areas, a biological entity of extraordinary interest has survived, saved from the dangers of destruction that instead hit the nearby area of the Rogge Guida and Raina springs, which still retain considerable environmental values. Sensitive to the solicitations of the scientific and environmental world, the Lombardy Region has established an oriented nature reserve in the central part of the area since 1984, entrusting its management to the Province of Pavia. The Loja Swamp is located in Lomellina, between the municipalities of S. Angelo and Zeme Lomellina and represents a flooded forest relic with black Alder, once a widespread habitat in swampy depressions with still waters, in the sortuminous soils and in the lower fluvial terraces of the old waterways, throughout the area. The dominant tree species is the black alder rarely associated with English oak, white poplar, white willow, willow, field maple, white hornbeam, pear and wild apple and some specimens of elm, a species decayed by graphiosis. In the undergrowth among the most significant species the Hawthorn, the Hazel, the Blackthorn, the Sanguine, while the herbaceous vegetation has among the most important species the Salcerella, the Water Yarrow, the yellow iris, the Reed of the marsh, the Mazzasorda greater or Tifa, the Nannufaro and some species of Sedge. The fauna includes about fifteen species of mammals including the Shrew, the Moscardino, the Weasel, the Polecat and the Nutria, rodent of South American origin which probably escaped some breeding. The varied environment determines a truly extraordinary presence of birds, with species linked to running waters, woods and uncultivated or arable land. We report only some of them, from the Ardeidae to the Kingfisher, from the numerous Anatidae to the Cavaliere d'Italia, to the Canareccione, to the Moorhen, to the Greater Spotted Woodpecker. The reptiles and amphibians are noted, among others, with the presence of the Grass Snake, the Snake, the Triton, the Frog of Lataste. In the waters live the brook lamprey and the crayfish, while among the fish one can observe the Pike, the Tench, the Carp, the Rudd, the Bleak, the Common Cobite and the Masked Cobite. Thousands of insect species, including the now rare Carabus clathratus. The Pro Natura oasis extends over 10 hectares made up of the wood that develops along the outflow shaft of the Cavo Solero and Roggia Raia.

Nice panoramic tour with some pleasures, such as herons of the heronry, the votive chapel with benches and water to cool off.