A dramatic scene unfolded at the Vlaha stork nest on the 3rd of May. At around 5:00 p.m., the female was incubating the eggs when a ringed stork suddenly landed on the nest. The confrontation was brief, and the newcomer quickly gained the upper hand. It did not take long for us to identify the intruder as the nest's resident from last year.
The bird, wearing ring 8031, had been ringed in 2020 at nest No. 6 in Dumbrăvioara. Together with its mate, it had taken over the Vlaha nest on the 21st of May last year.
The returning stork then methodically set about erasing every trace of this year's occupants. After repeated attempts, it picked up the eggs one by one in its bill and threw them out of the nest. Only a single egg escaped being smashed on the ground—it became lodged among the branches and remained caught on the edge of the nest.
The occupation by 8031 lasted for about an hour and a half before the resident male returned. After a series of fierce battles, strength in numbers prevailed: this year's pair managed to drive the intruder away and rolled the surviving egg back into the centre of the nest. Fighting broke out again around the nest after dark, although it could no longer be documented by the camera. It is very likely that 8031 made another attempt to reclaim the nest.
By morning, however, this year's pair was still in possession of their home. Instead of incubating three eggs, they were now left with just one.
You can view a sequence of photographs of the event here.