Читать книгу The Rhine Cycle Route. From source to sea through Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands онлайн

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The second event was a period of repeated glaciation known as the ice ages, ending around 14,000 years ago. This had three effects upon the Rhine basin. In the Alps great glaciers formed, cutting deep, straight valleys from Oberalp to Chur and below Chur to Bodensee, where a lake formed at the end of the glacier. Further north, ice sheets covered the North German plain, which when they retreated left a flat landscape covered with glacial and wind-blown loess (sedimentary) deposits. Furthermore, when the ice sheets melted, the sea rose, leaving the western end of the plain (modern-day Netherlands) below sea level.

Wildlife

While several small mammals (including rabbits, hares, red squirrels, voles, water rats and weasels) may be seen scuttling across the track and deer may be glimpsed in forests, this is not a route for observing animals. However, there is a wide range of interesting birdlife. White swans, geese and many varieties of ducks inhabit the river and its banks. Cruising above, raptors, particularly buzzards and kites, are frequently seen hunting small mammals. Birds that live by fishing include cormorants, noticeable when perched on rocks with their wings spread out to dry and grey herons. Common all along the Rhine, and particularly numerous in the Netherlands, herons can be seen standing in shallow water waiting to strike or stalking purposefully along the banks.