The two boys from Vlaha, who were hit by a jet of droppings from a stork chick that was flushed from the nest during a stork ringing on Friday morning, are lucky. The children, along with around 30 of their peers from the kindergarten and school in Magyarfenes, came to the site to pet the baby stork, learn about the life of storks and see how the ringing process is carried out. They all had a good time.
The nestling was given the white E740 ring on its right leg. The ring can be read remotely with binoculars or photographed and the wearer identified. The bird also has a small metal ring on its left ankle with a different number identifying the country. This ring is of importance if the bird dies.
Since 2017, 28 baby storks have been fitted with rings at the Vlaha nest. Two of them have been reported so far. One of them was photographed on the border between Bistrița and Mures county, the other near Bacău. It would be possible to gather much more information on the birds by fitting them with transmitters, but the technology is still very expensive and the risk of the bird on which the transmitter is placed dying is quite high. In this case, the investment is probably wasted.
This year the parents have managed to raise five baby geese in the nest at Vlaha. Five to six weeks after they were born, the babies are approaching the size of their parents. Four of them have a ring on their head. They were given the numbers E741, E742, E743 and E744. At ringing, in addition to the number of rings, the length of their beaks is measured and recorded by ornithologists. This gives an indication of their maturity. The largest baby goose had a beak length of 110 millimetres and the smallest 89 millimetres.
Five baby storks have not been raised in the Vlaha nest for nine years. In the 18 years that we have been monitoring the nest, this has only happened on three occasions. A pair of storks usually laid five eggs, but one egg did not always hatch, and not all of the hatched storks were raised every year. More photos of the ringing here.