Oss, Raivo and others...
Translation by Scott Diel
Photos by Renno Nellis
Maps: Google Earth
Black Stork Raivo was one of the last to begin his journey, but he was the first to reach the destination—the Jordan River valley. Since September 10th, he's been fishing and resting there. Raivo's stopping points in the past few days have been fish ponds surrounding a prison. Satellite photos of the spot look like this:
…and the ground view of the same spot, from the south side of the heights of the western bank:
Of our birds, one named Oss from Raplamaa in central Estonia is also stopping (or wintering?) in the same region. One of Oss' chicks is in the Nigula wild animal shelter and will remain there through the winter, but the other was spotted in August in southeast Finland. Oss made it to the Jordan valley on the 20th of September and stopped about 20 kilometers southeast of Raivo:
While Raivo overnights near big fish ponds, in fields, or on electrical posts, Oss has chosen a secure border zone, where on the Jordanian side there are limestone cliffs at the edge of the valley. Guards are on both sides of the border, and this photo shows a view from the west looking east, a guard tower in the foreground:
The male black stork called Valja (from Saaremaa Island's village of Valjala) was quite close to the Jordan valley, but our last data (Sunday, 28 Sept.) wasn't exact and came from Syria, 80 kilometers northeast of Raivo and Oss. The islander Piia is also in Syria, but she's obviously not interested in the Jordan valley's fishponds and is moving quickly in the direction of the Sudan (I believe following last year's course). Piia and Priit's son may now be in the south of Turkey or Syria.