More and more birds are returning to Lithuania: they said what to expect next
Currently, birds that have wintered near our country are returning to Lithuania: in Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, etc.
“Now the so-called nearby migrants have returned to Lithuania. These are winches, gossip, chickpeas, gray geese and swans. As these birds overwinter near our land, they themselves feel that the air has already warmed up so much and are flying closer to their crossing point, ”said the head of the Ventė Cape Ornithological Station. ornithologist Vytautas Eigirdas.
Since snow is still expected in February, the good news is that such weather conditions would not harm these birds.
“If the weather changed drastically and it was very cold, these birds would just return to their wintering grounds quickly,” the ornithologist said.
V.Eigirdas also said that the gray goose returns to Lithuania even during the winter: “We have marked several gray geese. We put a transmitter and a neck ring on them and we see that during the winter, when it gets so cold, they return to the crossing point, and if it gets cold, they fly out to the wintering place again. And sometimes he does it several times during the winter. ”
This year the birds returned to Lithuania a little earlier than last year. But it happened naturally, because this year the winter left Lithuania faster.
The big peak of birds returning to Lithuania will start in March.
“The insects that winter the furthest (in Africa) will return somewhere in April, in May. They are in no hurry to return, because if they returned earlier and the weather cooled down, they would not be able to return to their wintering place and then back to Lithuania. They are oriented according to their own internal clock, “said the ornithologist.
After these early returning birds, the tundra, grasshopper geese must now fly back.
“Now we are waiting for further migrants of tundra, green geese, which are wintering in the northern part of Russia. After that, white-necked geese, which stay with us in the Nemunas delta. And when the weather really warms up, then our singers and all the other birds will be “, – assured V.Eigirdas.