About to return? (Monday, February 23, 2004)
Last week, Iristu flew sixty kilometres to the southwest in Gujarat. Does that mean that the last puddles dried out around Jamwari? Or is he about to return home? My answer to the first question is "maybe", to the other "probably not".
When we monitored our - read Czech - black storks, they were often already heading for home at the end of February. However, we expect the Siberian storks to return much later. Let's check letters from Nikolai where he reported on the end of winter at Ob:
February 16, 2003 - it is -30 °C
March 26, 2003 - first starlings arrived, but it temperatures fall to -10 °C at night, and there is 70 cm of snow in the woods.
April 23, 2003 - Ob has melted completely. Afternoon highs reach more than 10 °C, night time lows hover above zero. All migrating birds have returned but swallows and swifts.
In other words, Siberian storks can return to nest later than Central European storks. It is possible that Iristu and Altynaj will leave the wintering grounds soon and stop for a few weeks at Amudarya or Syrdarya, although it does not seem very likely...