The first storks return to Lithuania
Vytautas Eigirdas, the chief ornithologist of the Ventė Cape Ornithological Station, stated that he had not yet seen the returned stork. And other ornithologists did not boast after seeing the stork.
“It simply came to our notice then. It is possible that the individual storks have already returned. However, not everyone flew out. One other stork, weaker, could not fly away. Overwintered here. “When humans have these storks, it’s good that migratory birds show up,” the ornithologist explained.
Ventė Cape personnel are monitoring eight storks that have been fitted with transmitters during ringing. Apparently they have all already left the areas where they wintered. Seven of them were recorded at Egypt. One has already reached Ukraine.
“It simply came to our notice then. Storks have internal clocks for migration and feel when to embark on a journey. If on the way somewhere worse weather occurs – they may just wait a few days. And then the trip again, “said V.Eigirdas.
A stork can fly several hundred miles a day. Ornithologists have also recorded cases where the stork overcame the day and 800 km in better weather.
First of all, storks usually appeared in Western Lithuania. Here this year and the signs of spring began to emerge somewhere earlier on the seashore than in eastern Lithuania, where water bodies are still covered with ice on Sundays, and snow can be seen in the wilderness.
“It simply came to our notice then. If there is no snow, you will find earthworms, frogs and beetles. You really don’t need to feed them. They are not lost. And even if it snows, it wouldn’t be good anyway. One year it was that it was snowing. The storks then rushed to landfills. But here there is a danger due to all kinds of ropes, plastic “, V.Eigirdas named.
The ornithologist working in Ventė did not hide the fact that he was waiting for the first time to see the first stork. “A lot of fun. After all, it is the national bird of Lithuania. Lithuania is the most densely populated country in the world. It is also a sign of identification of good farming, ”the specialist explained.
A decade ago, it was estimated that there could be about 20,000 people in Lithuania. pairs of storks. This number is not expected to change much. Most storks can be seen on the coast.
V.Eigirdas jokingly says that sometimes this bird still accompanies everything. There is resentment that they can catch all the hares. However, the ornithologist is reassuring – the hare can be a prey to the stork, but in rare cases. So there is really no threat to the hare population.
“We’ve heard and are worried that something needs to be done – the storks are too cold, that their feet need redness from the cold,” he laughed.
And he himself remembered that in his childhood he waited for spring and where he would see the first stork. The students then believed that if they saw a squat squatting, they would not take them to the next class. If the stork is flying – in the fall will be upgraded.
Now there is still a superstition that when you see the first stork in the nest, the year will be sedentary. And if the stork is flying – a lot of trips are waiting.