Leaving soon (Tuesday, June 24, 2003)
Tracking of black storks that we equipped with transmitters last year in the south of the Novosibirsk region brought up many questions. That is why we would like to monitor another three storks from the same area: the Suzun district near the river Ob.
"The weather is beautiful. It is warm, one would say hot, with temperatures reaching 30 to 32 degrees Celsius. It has rained very little and everything is drying up. The only problem is that there are many mosquitoes, it is almost impossible to go to the woods. But I suppose there will be fewer of them before you come. (NB: (mb) Take a look at the photograph below that was taken last year to get an idea of what it looks like when there is "fewer of them".)
I started monitoring nests and storks. I visited Roman's nest, there were no eggs there but storks were circling around, although none of them had a backpack. (NB: (mb) Roman's whereabouts are still unknown and the fact that Nikolai did not see a storks "with a backpack" does mean much.) Below the nest, I found a ring you used to ring the young with - one of them must have died. The nest must be occupied, because there is a lot of green leaves and fresh moss there. The nests where you ringed Peter is occupied by a stork without a backpack. I found three eggs in Katerina's nest, another was lying on the ground. There are excrements below the nest but I could not see any storks.
I estimate that there could be some ten couples around here. I'll try to find other nests before you arrive.
We are leaving for Russia on July 11. Although we will get in touch once more before we leave (and we are planning a little surprise for you, too!), we promise that you will be able to find on-line reports from Siberia on this website and that we will have live dispatches on Czech Radio as every year.