Calendar of our storks

Long, long ago :) in the 1980s. At our family home in Stary Sawacinek, as children we had a beautiful, direct view of a storks nest in the distance. The nest was located nearby, on a barn belonging to one of the farmers. The storks flying low over our heads always filled us with joy and excitement, and their return from Africa was always an eagerly awaited and extraordinary event. This idyll repeated itself every year for over a dozen years, but later, for unknown reasons, the storks stopped settling there, and the nearest nests were about a kilometer away. We still watched them in the meadows because the surrounding areas were rich in food and favorable for storks. However, these were storks from other nests and villages.

My attachment to storks was also strengthened by a sad event from the past. One summer day, together with my friends we were about 5-8 years old at the time we noticed a stork in the meadow with a drooping wing, standing motionless for a long time. We wondered what was happening and why it didnt fly away; we guessed it might have an injured wing. A neighbor managed to catch it and take it to a vet, but he couldnt help it, and the stork was put to sleep. This was in the early 1980s, and there were no bird rescue centers like today. We were deeply affected by this. Someone gave the stork to be taxidermied and later gifted it to us. This stork was in our home for the next dozen or so years, allowing us to closely observe and admire what it looked like up close.

The story of our nest began many years later, in 2009. I thought then to surprise my little daughter Ola (who was 3 years old at the time) and put up a pole for a nest in my parents' yard so that she too could experience the same joy of watching storks as I once did.

Ola and I went to a nearby sawmill and bought a 12-meter pine pole, which was brought to our yard by tractor. However, I had doubts whether this made any sense, as storks hadn't been in the area for a long time, and there was no shortage of voices saying it doesn't work like that, that you can't just put up a pole and the storks will come. Common sense confirmed that they were right how would a stork know this is a place for a nest, and how would it even find it? Observing storks in other villages, you can notice that sometimes nesting platforms don't appeal to storks and remain empty for many years. I was afraid it might be the same in our case.

These demotivating doubts caused the pole to lie on the ground all summer and winter... However, persistence in pursuing the goal, a reluctance to listen to "something can't be done," and support for the idea from family and neighbors led me to take the matter more seriously. But it was already midsummer 2010, and the breeding season had long since begun (storks intensively search for nests immediately after returning from Africa). My dad, Jan, welded a special structure for the nest, and the pole was debarked and impregnated, then, with the joint effort of about a dozen people, it was dug in and set upright. After being set, the pole was 10 meters high. We attached some branches to the nest as a start and began waiting to see if the storks would notice what we had prepared for them.

Days passed, storks flew by and nothing... Summer was in full swing until one morning we spotted a stork sitting on the nest! The joy was immense because it meant the stork recognized our pole as a potential nesting site. However, it didn't last long, and after an hour or two the stork flew away and never returned. That season, there were no more storks. In my assessment, the nest start we prepared (largely stolen later by jackdaws) was too modest, and the nest required too much work to encourage the storks to stay.

I decided to help the storks a bit. Early in the spring of the following year, 2011, I climbed up to the nest and, hauling up bundles of sticks with a rope, I wove them anew, trying this time to make the nest as much as possible resemble what the storks themselves would build. Again, the waiting and uncertainty began would our actions have any positive effect?

A long month of waiting and watching for passing storks passed, and suddenly it happened! Exactly on April 19, 2011, a pair of storks flew to the nest. We were very happy for two reasons: first, for the storks' arrival itself, and second, because they immediately accepted the nest and stayed overnight. We also observed fights over the nest, but our pair defended itself bravely, which boded well for the future.

In the following days, the storks flew to the feeding grounds and returned, made improvements to the nest, but they did not start breeding. However, they were on the nest the entire season and took care of it. At the time, I didn't know that storks, besides sticks, also seal the nest with soil (most often turf), and the nest I had woven still required a lot of work because it was completely openwork and you could see right through it.

In 2012, the storks appeared on the nest quite late, only on May 3. Unfortunately, with storks, you can never be 100% sure if it's the same pair as the previous year. The storks set about finishing work on the nest, but again there was no breeding. It was pleasant once again to watch such beautiful birds flying over our heads.

That's also when I started thinking about buying a camera to be able to watch what was happening in the nest for my own needs. After installing the first camera in March 2013, which unfortunately worked for barely two weeks and broke (got wet), I had to quickly buy another one. With limited funds, I chose a camera of not the best quality, but what could be seen through it fully made up for the shortcomings in image quality.

On April 28, 2013, a pair of storks appeared on the nest. It is quite possible it was the same pair as in previous years. I had already had a feeling that these were inexperienced storks, just learning about life and raising broods. Two eggs were laid very late for storks only at the beginning of June (usually, young storks hatch already in May).

The views from the camera were so exciting that I decided I absolutely had to share this with others, especially with friends. For this purpose, I created the first simple website, purchased the domain bociany-online.pl, and placed the camera feed on it.

To be continued...