A stork that was ringed in this village in 2022 returned to Vlaha for Easter. The stork wearing ring number 7844 arrived in the village with a companion on April 20, Easter Sunday, and attempted to land on the nest at around 4:54 p.m., but was not given a friendly welcome. It was chased away by the lone stork defending the nest.
The identification took place after we noticed that one of the storks had a ring. This became evident while studying the photos taken of the fight, as we searched through the images, enlarged them, and cleaned them up until the number 7844 became clearly legible. After researching its past, we discovered that this was the same stork that had been photographed in the summer of 2023. At that time, it was seen near Bákó, on the banks of the river Bistrița , in the company of many other storks.
The landing attempt made by stork 7844 was just one of many nest disputes in recent days. As the weather warmed up in mid-April, stork movement began in Vlaha. Every day, groups of varying sizes arrive, the members of which try to occupy the nest. The combat situation is difficult to interpret because we cannot differentiate the protector of the nest from its competitors. However, it seems certain that Leske, who has returned every summer for the past eight years, has not returned to the nest this year. It may be that Miska is the lone stork who does not allow other storks to move to Vlaha, and he does not seek a mate himself.
Sadly, the camera only shows a small part of the fight, and even locals can't really follow what's happening around the nest. One thing's for sure: the stork that owns the nest protects the area, chasing away intruders even from the roofs of nearby houses and power poles. The latter also fight among themselves. They chase each other away from elevated positions suitable for observing the nest. Here you can see the most beautiful recordings of the fights that took place in the nest over this Easter.