31.08.2009

"The Storks depart"

It barely started and rapidly the stork season of 2009 comes to an end. How joyful we were when at the beginning of April the first stork, presumably Cico, arrived at the Vetschau Internet eyrie. Only the third female was to be his "Luna" this year followed shortly thereafter by the laying of eggs. With four eggs the clutch was complete but as the date of hatching drew near, a thunderstorm damaged the closely to the nest installed camera. This incident prevented any look into the nest. Only the audio betrayed the presence of young chicks at the Internet storks' eyrie. However, the delight did not last long for the chicks died shortly after. An investigation of the dead and ejected chicks revealed that the cause of death in this year was a mould fungus infection.

Cico and Luna are now on their long trip to Africa. Other young and old storks assembled in stork troupes at good feeding places and embarked during the past days on the flight to the winter quarters in Africa. Astonishingly, the young storks fly away earlier than the old ones. They find their way without help any from the parents. The flight path leads to the southeast at first. All storks from East and Central Europe fly across the Straits of Bosporus, Turkey, along the Mediterranean Coast to Israel and finally across the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. From there along the Nile River to Central Africa. Many, even, continue on to South Africa in December - a total distance of 8,500 miles.

We now hope that our stork couple and all the other white stork couples will return to their ancestral breeding locations.

During the coming days/weeks we will schedule the removal of the camera and at the same time dispose of the nest material of the stork eyrie. The decision will be made whether the camera eyrie will be partially removed or totally renewed, chemically treated or to allow nature to take its course. In discussions with experts more voices lean toward the opinion that intervention at the nest will not be successful as far as death by mould infection is concerned. The interactions between weather, fodder, level of infection of the parent storks are very complex and therefore crucial factors.

Nonetheless, a visit to the Spree Forest and our White Stork Information Centre during the off-season is worthwhile. The exhibits are open until September 30, 2009 from Tuesdays to Sundays between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Current information with respect to exhibition exhibitions you can find on out Internet website www.storchennest.de or by telephone at 0049-35433-4100 (from North America).

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