Platani river
The Platani River is one of the most important in Sicily.
It was, evidently, navigable and was an important means of communication for the Greeks and company. Once covered by a thick forest (like all of Sicily) today its area is characterized by a poignant landscape as bleak a sit is fascinating: wheat fields, rocks that rise suddenly, an archeological city here and there, bits and pieces, plateaus, hills…
The Platani, after a long journey of some 110 kilometers, flows into the sea near Capo Bianco a splendid ciff that consists of calcerous marl overlooking the reserve.
The summit of Capo Bianco is the site of Eraclea Minoa, a Greek colony of the Mycenaean Age (6th century BC).
The place makes the migratory birds happy, the avocet, the black-winged stilt, the peregrine falcon and the marsh harrier.
There are plover nests, the coot and the pendulum, passerine with its characteristic nest in the shape of a saddle bag.
On the beach of the reserve the Caretta caretta (photo) sea turtles have returned to spawn after a long absence.