Following Karls' Families

[Heloise]

Thank you, Anne!

But really... what next?
Udu, still a little unpredictable...

[bigfan]

Udu will no longer fly to Istanbul for coffee ... we must hope that nature will advise him on where to go next and he will be able to evaluate his strength whether to fly through Crete to Africa, choose a route east around the coast to the south or stay in Greece or Italy. Maybe Udu will surprise us with its original variant..We can only wish you good luck ... little Udu ..

[balistar]

Anne, Heloise, bigfan

Well said, bigfan.
I hold my breath for our UDU and cross fingers and toes.

[Heloise]

Hello, Balistar, Bigfan and Anne

I hold my breath for our UDU and cross fingers and toes.

Me too!
But... how bad would it be if s/he stayed in Greece for the winter?

[Anne7]

.
Hello Bigfan, Balistar and Heloise

...
But... how bad would it be if s/he stayed in Greece for the winter?

In fact, I think it would be a wise decision for Udu to spend the winter in Greece, provided he finds an area where he can find enough healthy food throughout the winter. It is well known, for example, that many Black Storks spend the winter in the rice fields in southern Spain. And in northern Greece there’s Lake Kerkini National Park, situated in one of the most northern parts of Greece, close to the border with Bulgaria, where many birds winter, including storks.

As Hana documented, Žólty (Yellow), a Polish black stork (born 2017) winters for the fourth time in northern Greece, near the Kerkini National Park. Žólty also searches for food along the nearby Struma River and the irrigated (rice)fields.
Last night, UDU was not very far from that region. But whether s/he will fly there?

I think a lot will depend on whether Udu is all alone (which is likely, in my opinion) or lucky enough to be in the company of a more experienced stork...


Wintering in Europe instead of Africa enhances juvenile survival in a long-distance migrant
Animal Behaviour, April 2017
Shay Rotics, Sondra Turjemana, Michael Kaatz, Yehezkel S. Resheff, Damaris Zurell, Nir Sapir, Ute Eggers, Wolfgang Fiedler, Andrea Flack, Florian Jeltsch, Martin Wikelski, Ran Nathan
Increased human-induced environmental changes and global warming alter bird migration timing and routes. Recently, many Holarctic species, including white storks, Ciconia ciconia, were reported to overwinter at higher latitudes, closer to breeding grounds. We aimed to understand the causes and implications of this phenomenon by examining bird survival and behaviour during overwintering in Europe versus Africa. We compared GPS and body acceleration data of 54 juvenile (first-year) white storks that originated from the same European natal population and overwintered in Europe or Africa. All six juveniles that overwintered in Europe survived through their first year, which was significantly higher than only 38% of the 48 overwintering in the species' traditional grounds in Africa. During overwintering, storks in Europe differed from those in Africa by (1) reducing movement and foraging range, (2) spending less time flying and more time resting, thus using less energy (estimated from overall dynamic body acceleration) and (3) reducing foraging effort, while relying more on anthropogenic resources (landfills and agricultural areas). Timing affected overwintering site as juveniles that overwintered in Europe hatched and started migrating later. We emphasize, however, that late hatching by itself did not yield a survival benefit as not all late juveniles curtailed their migration. We suggest that wintering in Europe was less demanding compared to Africa which may explain the increased survival of juveniles that wintered in Europe. Our findings correspond to the general increase in the European wintering population of white storks, and shed light on the contemporary trend of shortened bird migration; a phenomenon with potentially broad ecological implications.
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... ce_migrant


Birds of Lake Kerkini in Winter
Lake Kerkini, situated in one of the most northern parts of Greece and close to the border with Bulgaria, is rightly renowned as one of the continent’s most important wintering bird sites, where birds number are one of the highest anywhere in Eastern Europe. Its international importance to birds is recognised by its designation as a Ramsar site and the overall beauty and richness of the area for wildlife is why the lake forms the heart of Lake Kerkini National Park. ...
https://greenwings.co/our-holidays/bird ... in-winter/







Let's see what Udu decides.
And as Bigfan said:
"Maybe Udu will surprise us with its original variant ... We can only wish you good luck ... little Udu ... : wave: "

And as Balistar said: "cross fingers and toes..."

[Liz01]

Anne, Heloise, bigfan

Thank you for the daily update

Udu reminds me of Päike's route in 2018!
picture 07.10.2018

My fingers crossed that we will see her / him in a safe place soon

[Anne7]

Udu reminds me of Päike's route in 2018!
picture 07.10.2018
…
My fingers crossed that we will see her / him in a safe place soon

Yes, Liz, I remember that very well.
That's exactly why I'm so worried about Udu.

Little Päike, the brother of Maru and Karula, flew to the most southern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Then he disappeared for ever. Päike presumably drowned while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

May little Udu have more luck (and choose another route)!
Any wrong decision may be fatal in this area…

[Heloise]

Hello, Anne, Liz,
many thanks for the very thorough information and comments!

Last spring, I saw Black Storks live on the Kerkin National Park page via Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/kerkiniNP

http://kerkini.gr/?lang=en

We have to keep an eye on!
It seemed cold in the winter, but they survived it nicely.

I hope Udu isn't going to start crossing the sea!
So sorry for all the young birds we've lost ...
I hope for the best as always.

[Anne7]

Thank you for the links, Heloise!

I read on their Facebook page, the following message from ‘Lake Kerkini National Park’:
“In recent years, many Black storks (Ciconia nigra) remain in various wetlands in Greece and they don’t migrate to Africa!”

Someone asked:
“What could be the possible reason?”

‘Lake Kerkini National Park’ replied:
“There are probably several reasons that may lead to such phenomena, such as possibly the availability of food, the safety and the quietness in some areas, the changing climatic conditions and other parameters that probably altogether create a tendency to remain in some wetlands for some individuals.”

So, if I understood it correctly, there are more places (wetlands) in Greece that could be suitable for BS to spend the winter!

[asteria]

to everybody!

There is one more young stork in Greece at the moment: Blue from Makov, who is exploring Crete.

[Liz01]

Anne, Heloise, New data by Udu




I do not like what I see. But I hope it will all end well It looks like he /she is near the Lake Kerkini National Park
No! he far away - the NP is on the east 94,8 km far from Udu

[Heloise]

Anne, Liz, thank you too!
Asteria

So nice to feel useful, sometimes
I hope Udu will find this park!

[juta]

PIKNE

Tracker map 14.10 - 15.10.21 201.26

Total route 33 km
Battery 21 %

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit? ... sp=sharing

Is Pikne in Bulgaria or...?

[sova]

Good evening

Stork ŽÓLTY (from Polen) also spends its winter in this region (a little to the east) - Lake Kerkini / Struma River.
So ... Udu still has to search a bit ...






https://www.google.ch/maps/place/Kerkin ... 3.13?hl=de



Sorry Juta that I messed up the order

[Liz01]

....Is Pikne in Bulgaria or...?

Juta, yes, he/she is

[juta]

KARL II

Tracker map 14.10 - 15.10 20.39

Total route 474 km!!!
Battery 84 %

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit? ... sp=sharing

Karl II in Turkey

[Anne7]

Sova, Heloise, Liz, Asteria

Juta
There has been an error in the received tracker map data from Karl II.
Karl II didn't fly the part that I indicated in red.
Again, the wrong coordinates are at Ankara airport!



Karl II is currently near Buhara, Sivrihisar/Eskişehir, Turkey

[juta]

UDU

Tracker map 14.10 - 15.10 20.55

Total route
Battery

It´s all well with Udu, but I have error in making map

Udu in Grece

[juta]

Anne, there is error with Karl and Udu.

[sova]

Good evening

Stork ŽÓLTY (from Polen) also spends its winter in this region (a little to the east) - Lake Kerkini / Struma River.

Sorry .... I have not seen that Anne has already written about Kerkini See