Mighan Wetland

Just north-east of the industrial city of Arak, the plain dips into a wide shallow basin that fills with water in the wet months and shrinks to a white crust of salt in summer. This is Mighan, a seasonal lake and wetland at about 1,700 metres above sea level, with low islands, flood plains and desert around its edges.

Mighan is best known for its birds. In autumn it becomes one of the most important resting places in Iran for the common crane, and studies have counted at least 5,000 of them in a season, alongside ducks, waders and other waterbirds on their long migrations between Siberia and the south. The sight of the cranes lifting off the water at dawn, calling as they go, has made the wetland a favourite of birdwatchers and photographers from across the country.

The provincial Department of Environment has made Mighan a no-hunting area, and local naturalists have pressed for wider recognition. Like many inland wetlands in Iran, it is fragile: its water depends on rainfall and on the streams that feed it, and it sits close to a growing city and its industries.

For the people of Arak, Mighan is a reminder that the edge of their city is still a crossroads of the sky. In winter, when the lake fills and the snow lies on the hills around it, the basin turns to a sheet of silver and pale blue.