A stop at the 'petrol station': 2,000 storks have taken over the fields of Bessarabia
This was reported by Ivan Rusev, an ecologist and head of the research department at the Tuzlivski Limany National Park
The natural ‘lift’ has failed
Storks are masters of gliding flight. They use warm air currents to rise upwards, barely flapping their wings. Due to the cold and rain of recent days, this natural mechanism has ceased to function, forcing the birds to land in the area of the Sasyk estuary.
A feast in the rain
The stop turned out to be a real ‘feast’ for the birds. Due to the downpours, earthworms emerged en masse onto the surface (up to tens of thousands per hectare). This allowed the storks, exhausted by migration, to quickly put on weight before the next stage of their journey.
A tribute to a fellow ornithologist
Interestingly, this natural phenomenon coincided with the 67th birthday of the renowned environmental education specialist Serhii Kurochkin, whose friendship with his colleagues has lasted for half a century — since his first year at Odesa National University.
