Altitude: 240–250 m above sea level
Area: 6 ha
Material: Early Quaternary (Pleistocene) loess (wind-blown dusty sediments)

 

Loess was mined there for a brickwork which was in operation between 1898 and 1994. Extraction created steep clay walls and other bare or only sparsely vegetated surfaces. A water surface has formed at the bottom of the extraction area providing habitat for wetland organisms. In 2005, part of the clay mine was 'cut off' by the construction of the I/37 road between Pardubice and Chrudim. The site was gradually covered with soil and overgrown with reeds and willows. Efforts to perform a nature sensitive reclamation with subsequent conservation maintenance of the biotopes have not been successful. Endangered species were still present until 2012. Recently, the clay field has been filled with soil. In 1900, a complete skeleton of a woolly rhinoceros was found there, which is currently deposited in the collections of the National Museum in Prague.

 

Plants

Wet disturbed soil: Strawberry Clover (Trifolium fragiferum), Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea)

Wetland species: Bladderwort (Utricularia australis), Sea Club-rush (Bolboschoenus maritimus), Little Green Sedge (Carex oederi), Variegated Horsetail (Equisetum variegatum), Grey Club-rush (Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani), Whorled Water-milfoil (Myriophyllum verticillatum) 

 

Invertebrates

Xerophilic species: Green Tigerbeetle (Cicindela campestris)

Wetland species: Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas), Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum)

 

Vertebrates

Associated with dry exposed substrate: Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis), Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis); Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) 

Wetland species (or combination of wetland and dryland): Smooth Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris), Northern Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus), Common Spadefoot (Pelobates fuscus), Fire-bellied Toad (Bombina bombina), Natterjack Toad (Epidalea calamita), European Common Toad (Bufo bufo), European Green Toad (Bufotes viridis), European Treefrog (Hyla arborea), European Common Frog (Rana temporaria), Lake Frog (Pelophylax ridibundus), Agile Frog (Rana dalmatina); Grass Snake (Natrix natrix)