looduskalender.ee

Nighttime temperatures have been around 7 degrees in the nest forest. One year ago at the same time it was twice that much... And the daily high temperature has been only about 20 degrees. It rained in the evening and forecasters predict strong bouts of rain in the days ahead.

The white plumage is retreating before our eyes, though the white "crowns"  would have made the young storks popular at the recent punk festival. Together with the oncome of black plumage are more frequent flying exercises, and standing on one leg is no longer a problem.

Light rain is like water on a goose's back, but heavier rain... we have seen quite a lot of that this year.

We have been asked why bands are placed on both legs, and does this not somehow interfere with the leg joints. The larger white band is made of plastic, which is easy to see and read. But plastic doesn't last that long -- it gets brittle in the sun and eventually cracks and falls off (for example Padise's green band is gone this summer after having being worn for 7 years). On the other leg is fastened a regular aluminum band, which lasts much longer, though is more difficult to read... The bands don't usually bother the birds, as they are lightweight and move freely over their scale-covered legs. The bands, though, can possibly get caught up on something (like a fish net), though the chance of this is very small.