On this new topic, we will document the autumn and spring migration 2024/25 of all Estonian Black Storks, with the exception of WABA
Waba has its own topic - Following Karls' Families - and Waba's autumn migration 2024 can be followed starting here: viewtopic.php?p=934799#p934799
The posts below will gradually be supplemented and updated with more information, images and maps.
In alfabetic order:
Alvar Kergu Kerli Kuremari Nurme Timmu Trauma
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
Gender: male
Hatched: ? (adult)
Ring: 719L
Territory: Pärnu county, Estonia
Wintering: ? (We will find out later this season)
Information on birdmap: Black Stork, male, caught and tracked in Pärnumaa county, western Estonia. We are monitoring Alvar as part of the assessment of the impact of the expansion of the Saarde wind farm, and this study has been commissioned by Utilitas AS.
At the time of capture, after observations at feeding site we were convinced that he would not breed this year, or at least he would have no chicks. But it was a mistake, Alvar fed the two chicks in nest until the beginning of September. Therefore, after installing the transmitter, we also fed him additionally in the Soomaa National Park.
Alvar started his autumn migration on September 3, 2024, probably quite soon after the fledge of the chicks.
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
Gender: male
Hatched: 2011
Ring: 7047
Territory: Pärnu county, Estonia
Wintering: northwest Ethiopia
Information on birdmap: A male black stork from the northern part of Pärnumaa. Born in 2011, 10 km from the current nest.
In 2022 three chicks fledged. The autumn migration started on August 12. Kergu winters in northwestern Ethiopia.
In 2023 Kergu arrived on April 19, but remained single. The nest life could be observed via a web camera, the observations are on the forum. Kergu’s autumn migration started on July 28.
In 2022 three juveniles fledged successfully from his nest.
In 2023 Kergu's mate didn't come home, and he didn't find a new female.
In 2024 Kergu was again alone at the nest for a long time. However, towards the end of the season (from 28.06.2024), he received repeated visits from a young female, (presumably) Kerli. This is very encouraging for the 2025 breeding season
Kergu winters in northwest Ethiopia
Kergu's autumn migration in 2022
Kergu on his nest in 2024 Picture by Swenja
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
Gender: female
Hatched: ? (presumably in 2022)
Ring: 719R
Territory: Pärnu county, Estonia
Wintering: ? (We will see)
Information on birdmap: A young female Black Stork, which was caught in Pärnumaa County, as part of the Black Stork survey of the Tootsi-Sop wind farm. Survey was ordered by Enefit Green company. It is possible that the same individual visited the black stork Kergu's nest (there is a web camera in the nest) before the capture and installation of the transmitter.
Kerli started its first tracked autumn migration on 2024 July 21.
Beautiful young Kerli on Kergu’s nest Picture by Swenja
Kerli and Kergu Picture by Swenja
More asap
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
Strictly speaking, Kuremari is a Latvian BS. But we document her/his migration here because she got an Estonian transmitter and was entered into the Estonian OrniTrack system. We really do hope our Latvian friends will also enjoy the tracker maps we publish.
We know that Kuremari:
— is presumably a female BS
— is the youngest of three chicks in a nest (2021) near Pabazi in Latvia
— was ringed on 4 July 2021 (OXUJ), at the age of approximately 44 days.
— was trapped and fitted with a transmitter by Urmas on 24 July 2023 in Haanja Nature Park in Estonia
— winters south of Mekele in Ethiopia
Kuremari briefly visited a lone Latvian male on May 26th 2023. But s/he didn't enter the nest, and only visited once (as far as I know).
MĀRIS STRAZDS wrote (on the Latvian forum): Paldies par ziņu. Gredzens nolasīts pareizi. Diemžēl nevaru pārliecinoši
apstiprināt, ka tā būtu meitene. Pēc mērījumiem gredzenošanas laikā tas bija
puika - taču tas nav 100%, šādi noteiktam dzimumam ir apmēram 10-15% kļūdu.
DNS pārbaude pagaidām nav veikta. Putns bija jaunākais no trim mazuļiem
ligzdā netālu no Pabažiem (67,15 km no šīs ligzdas). Putns gredzenots
2021.g. 4 jūlijā apmēram 44 dienu vecumā, putna vecums šodien ir 734 dienas
(3. kalendārais gads), tas NOTEIKTI ir nepieaudzis ("tīneidžeris") putns,
kas "iepazīst dzīves telpu".
I tried to translate this with the help of a translation app: "Thank you for your message. The ring was read correctly. Unfortunately, I cannot confirm conclusively that it is a female. According to the measurements at the time of ringing it might be a male - but this is not 100% certain, there is about 10-15% error for gender determination this way.
DNA testing has not yet been carried out. The bird was the youngest of three chicks in a nest near Pabazi (67.15 km from this [Latvian] nest). The bird was ringed on 4 July 2021 at about 44 days of age, the bird's age today is 734 days (3rd calendar year), it is DEFINITELY a juvenile ("teenager") bird, "exploring the world"."
In July 2023, URMAS wrote some information about Kuremari. "Kuremari was caught in Haanja NP, a NP adjacent to Karula NP. It was a presumably adult stork accompanied by a second-year immature specimen. I naturally caught the adult-looking stork. But it turned out to be a third-year immature stork, ringed in Latvia. Since she had already been caught, we installed the transmitter. I am not sure if she will breed in Estonia, but we will see (maybe next year). I wrote 'she' according to the measurements, but that is not 100% clear. As you know, she visited the Latvian webcam nest once in May."
Kuremari before s/he was trapped, fishing in the fish basket.
There is also a plastic decoy and a second-year immature BS, who was familiar with Kuremari.
Kuremari's wintering grounds in Ethiopia, south of Mekele
In the summer of 2024, Kuremari remained in Latvia.
For obvious reasons we do not unveil the exact locations, but Kuremari spent the entire summer somewhere within this wide area:
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
Gender: male
Hatched: ? (Adult)
Ring: 7153
Territory: Pärnu and Rapla County, west-central Estonia.
Wintering:
- 1st wintering site: southern Sudan (reached by mid October)
- 2nd wintering site (second half of wintering): Ethiopian highlands
Information on birdmap: Adult Black Stork whose territory is situated in west-central Estonia. [In 2021] he used an artificial nest, refreshed it in spring, but did not find a female to produce brood. [In 2021] Nurme started his autumn migration on August 2nd, and on August 8th he reached his stopover place in Ukraine. Wintering site in southern Sudan reached by mid October and second half of wintering in Ehtiopian highlands.
During the breeding season 2022 Nurme visited several nests in a fairly large territory. In one of such nests Nurme was captured by a trail camera together with a ringed female (V702) from Lithuania (ringed in 2020). Autumn migration started at the end of July. Nurme migrated up to the southern part of Belarus together with another monitored black stork from Pärnu County (Timmu). In Africa, the connection with Nurme was lost, as is common there.
Nurme's autumn migration in 2021 and 2022
Mid June 2024, Urmas wrote: It seems that Nurme's habitat, his territory, is not good enough to invite females there (in case of a shortage of females in the population). Therefore, Nurme's territory is very large, containing a few nests (perhaps some former territories).
Nurme also visits Kergu's nest, every now and then. Picture by Swenja
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
Gender: male
Ring: 704X
Territory: Pärnu county, Estonia
Wintering: near Metema on the Sudanese border, in north western Ethiopia
Information on birdmap: Adult black stork from Pärnu county, Estonia. Caught in the beginning of August 2020, on the old wood rafting channel Timmkanal, after which he was named. We only found out about Timmu's nest in the next year, because in 2020 he had no brood. After his capture and installation of the transmitter, Timmu stayed at the release point for several days probably due to stress and did not want to fly. But when he started flying, he went on migration on August 17, 2020. Timmu made a stop in the southern part of Belarus on August 21, where he spent almost a month. Timmu then flew for two weeks without longer stop overs to winter in Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border. Timmu reached wintering site on October 2nd. He has a wintering area of about 160 square kilometers. During the spring migration (March 2nd - April 15th), Timmu did not make any long migration stops. Breeding in 2021 was successful with two chicks fledged. Timmu also reached the same wintering place in 2021, but made two stops during the autumn migration, one in southern Belarus and one in Romania. When he started wintering in 2021, Ethiopia did not have as good a mobile network as a year earlier. Sometimes we had to wait a long time for data. Maybe it was caused by the conflict between Sudan and Ethiopia?
Gender: presumably female
Hatched: ? (Adult)
Ring: 719J
Territory: Pärnu county, Estonia
Wintering: we will find out
Information on birdmap: A Black Stork caught in Pärnumaa County, probably a female bird. Its breeding is unknown because it was caught at the end of the breeding season [2024]. She got its name from the fact that during the installation of the transmitter, an old but healing ulcer appeared on the side of the body - probably a trauma from some kind of collision.
Black Storks were fed at the fishing site since the beginning of May, but it is not entirely certain whether there was only one specimen or several.
Trauma started its 2024 autumn migration on July 25, but not immediately towards the wintering area, but spent time in Latvia, Belarus and Lithuania. The migration stopover is located in northwestern Turkey on the Ergene River.
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
It would be particularly nice if a lot of members would participate in documenting the migration routes! In words, maps or photos. Everyone is welcome!
Let's enjoy their amazing journeys together.
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
Thank you Anne, thank you! I was looking forward to it. Here we are, quietly, but watching and reading everything. Regardless of the bad season this year, without being able to admire not a single full nest, not a single little chick /well at least Waba pleased us with his great travels/, let us wish fair winds to all and new and old black storks . May they return to us safe and sound next year, and God forbid we can see Kergu and his new girlfriend in action
Thank you, thank you all from the bottom of my heart, for the tremendous work you do so that we can touch at least a little bit the lives of these beautiful birds. Thank you !
Kuremari began her migration and flew strait to the south. She spent last night in Belarus and has reached Ukraine today. She made approx. 689 km in two days. There must be wonderful weather conditions.
She rests now between River Slutsch and the Village of Mochulyanka.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Dobi!
A little encouragement is definitely welcome, for all of us, at the moment.
It hasn't been a great season.
But let's keep our spirits up.
And thanks for the kick-off, Francesca! Bon voyage, Kuremari. Stay safe!
“Clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
— Irene Pepperberg
While I'm somewhat sad that the season is already over again and we didn't get to see any storklets this year, I'm excited to see that we can not only follow several old friends, but also some new ones, including Kergu's new girlfriend.
Do we already know more about Alvar and Trauma than the name?
Kuremari is still in the same area in Romania, Dunărea Veche - Brațul Măcin
Dunărea Veche - Brațul Măcin is a protected area (Special Protection Area - SPA) located in south-eastern Romania, in the counties of Brăila, Constanța and Tulcea
The natural area covers the eastern part of Brăila county (Frecăței and Mărașu communes), the western part of Tulcea county (Carcaliu, Cerna, Dăeni, Greci, Ostrov communes, and the town of Măcin) and the north-western part of Constanța county (Ciobanu, Gârliciu, Saraiu communes, and the town of Hârșova), near the national road DN22A that connects Tulcea to Hârșova.
The area has been declared a Special Avifauna Protection Area by Government Decision no. 1284 of October 24, 2007 (on the declaration of Special Avifauna Protection Areas as an integral part of the Natura 2000 European Ecological Network in Romania).
The site Dunărea Veche - Brațul Măcin since February 2013 is protected under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance and covers an area of 18,759 hectares.
The protected area (part of the steppe geographical bioregion) is a natural area (rivers, lakes, swamps, peat bogs, steppes, natural meadows, cultivated arable land, deciduous forests) which provides feeding, nesting and living conditions for several species of migratory and sedentary birds.
(Translated)
Old Danube-Macin Arm (Dunarea Veche-Bratul Macin). 02/20/2013; Braila, Tulcea, Constanta Counties; 26,792 ha; Nature Reserve; SAC; SCI. The site is part of the Danube meadow and is situated in an important migration corridor, providing breeding, resting and feeding shelter for many IUCN Red Listed bird species. The landscape is characterized by lakes between sand dunes, marshes, shrub wetlands, fishponds, islands, canals and drainage channels all very rich in biodiversity. The site is also important for conservation of tree galleries of Populus alba and Salix alba. Some of the factors adversely affecting its ecological status are drainages, wind turbines, urbanization, grazing, hunting and poaching. In terms of ecosystem services, the site plays a very important hydrological regulatory role in reducing the effects of the Danube floods. Within the site the most important human activities are agriculture, forestry and fishing. Ramsar Site no. 2116. Most recent RIS information: 2012.
Today Kuremari flew a little more towards Măcin.
Măcin (Romanian pronunciation: [məˈt͡ʃin]) is a town in Tulcea County, in the Northern Dobruja region of Romania.
The main share of the local economy is taken by agriculture, especially animal husbandry, cereal growing and in less extent, fishing. The local industry is centered on surface mining, mainly extraction of granite rocks, from quarries situated on southern slopes of Măcin Mountains; textile and clothing manufacturing are also relatively well represented. A significant proportion of the area's population (especially women) is still involved in the textile industry. There is also a factory producing electrostatic air purifiers and ventilation systems.
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