Spring comes late to Taimyr - the time of violent awakening of the northern numb nature. As soon as the timid breath of spring is heard in the clear, still chilly air, animals and birds hurry north, to their alluring native lands. At the end of April, the first migrants appear - snow buntings, heralds of the long-awaited spring. Eager reindeer are leaving their winter pastures. Following the deer are wolves, arctic foxes, and flocks of partridges. Snowy owls migrate to the Arctic tundra. Just like in winter, they will zealously hunt for partridges.

On the islands and frozen coasts of the polar seas, the first to catch the distant smells of spring were polar bears who hid in their dens for the winter. The bright rays of the sun and young animals growing up in a snowy house give no rest to their parents. It's time to bring the playful bear cubs out into the world. Arctic foxes have carefully cleared underground burrow dwellings in the tundra, where they will give birth to numerous offspring during the spring water season.

With the appearance of the first thawed patches in the tundra in the second half of May, the most daring representatives of the kingdom of countless birds appear. Ruffed buzzards, herring gulls, and peregrine falcons fly from the south. The vast expanses of the plains are resounding with the cries of partridges, merrily flying from thawed patch to thawed patch. In the sky blue you can also see the first flocks of geese.

The time has come for spring games for white hares. In the heat of ravines, hills, and coastal cliffs, they gather in groups where dozens of animals dance. But formidable wolves and some arctic foxes have already had young animals. All fur-bearing animals undergo an intensive change from fluffy winter fur to light summer fur.

Life is noisy on the northern islands and in the coastal zone of Taimyr. Clouds of sea colonial birds appeared here: ivory gulls, guillemots, little auks, thick-billed guillemots, kittiwake gulls, and glaucous guillemots. The coastal rocks came to life and resounded with the restless hubbub of birds. Seals and seals began to climb out onto the melted ice to bask in the rays of the blinding Arctic sun.

Real spring comes to Taimyr in June. Snow, like a sponge, is saturated with water and settles underfoot. The first streams, clear as glass, began to flow. The banks of rivers and lakes are exposed. The tundra is gradually shedding its cold white blanket.

In the first ten days of June, a two-meter ice shell cracks on the mighty Yenisei. The southern spring waters break up the gray ice and open the way for impatient waterfowl to their unforgotten native places in a foreign land. Tens, hundreds of thousands of birds appear above the tundra, like rain clouds. The expanses of Taimyr resound with friendly voices from edge to edge.

After the geese, almost all representatives of birds appear in the tundra. Snow-white swans swim slowly; Red-breasted and black-breasted geese will occasionally flash by. Flock after flock of pintails, teals, long-tailed ducks, scoters, common eiders, and sea ducks fly by. The males of these birds are in nuptial plumage. Ducks descend onto strips of meltwater. Skuas and terns have appeared, and in the east of Taimyr, fork-tailed and roseate gulls have appeared. Numerous waders and passerines are flying. “Reactive” predators - peregrine falcons and merlins - feel at ease. They masterfully hit their prey on the fly.

In the second half of June, wild reindeer calve. Bright red, forehead-shaped creatures are born.

Spring water evicted lemmings from their habitat in the lowlands, where they calmly wintered under dense snow, to higher places. How many enemies do these rodents have! They are hunted by wolves and arctic foxes, stoats and weasels, owls and buzzards, gulls and skuas.

In the warmed areas, grass began to grow, and the first flowers appeared. The golden heads of the fluffy willow inflorescences are cast. Freed from snow, the initially brownish tundra gradually turns green. Spring quietly turns into summer...

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