Shalakhovsky water basin is the biggest artificial reservoir in Egorevsky district with length of 7.5 km and the area of more than 500 hectares. It's located on the river Tsna. The coasts are covered by pine and mixed woods and are very picturesque. It is possible to find cozy places close to water where there are not so many people even at weekends. The basin is rich with carp and there are some other fish species too. However, fishing is not free.
Here is the most known nature sanctuary of Egorevsky district – the Shalakhovsky colony of gray herons (Ardea cinerea). This bird is larger than a goose (with length of a wing about a half-meter), coloring gray, with white head and neck. Above its eyes the bird has black feathers, so long that they form a "plait" behind its head. Wings are black, on each side of neck are black stripes, breast and belly are white, beak is brown and feet greenish. The gray heron fly back to our country in the early spring when reservoirs are still held down by ice. It eats water and land insects, medium-sized fish, frogs and snakes. The bird feeds itself in rather original manner: it stands in shallow waters for a long time, quiet, waiting patiently. When target appears the heron instantly snatches it. (In Russian language the heron is called "tzaplya" which comes from "tzapat", the Russian equivalent of the verb "to snatch"). When nesting herons usually form large colonies. A nest is constructed from branches and is always located very high (sometimes at the top of a tree). In each nest there are 3-7 eggs, greenish-blue, of size similar to those of a hen. Babies are hatched out by both parents. A young heron which just appeared from an egg can see but is absolutely helpless. It stays in its nest for about 7 weeks. Herons usually keep families and when winter is close they depart to Southern Europe or Africa. If you are naturalist or photographer I suggest you to spend a couple of hours with a telephoto lens to watch birds.
The village Shalakhovo which can be found on maps has been abandoned. Two wooden houses still can be seen there deep in the forest. The most preserved house once belonged to "grandma Natalia", the person who's still known to locals. This old lady lived in Shalahovo until her death; she was 96 then. Shalakhovo is surrounded with beautiful pine forest, and only five minutes away of moderate walking is the basin coast.
This cache was cross-posted from the Russian national geocaching resource. Please do not leave any trackables in this cache since at this time trackables aren't known to most Russian geocachers and may be just taken away. We're doing our best to improve situation here but it takes time.
It is our tradition in Russia to restore ruined caches by all available means. If you find it ruined or absent please take some efforts to restore it (if possible). Thank you.