The Νatural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest and the Kalloni EIC conducted a ringing operation at the White Stork nests by the Kalloni Gulf wetlands. This is the first time to ring White Stork chicks on such a scale as, in the past, a single nest was ringed at the Kalloni square. The attempt was supervised by the Aegean University and the Greek Ringing Center with the support of the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator.
The ringing team visited 4 nests and rinded 12 chicks in total, spending approximately half an hour time at each nest. White Stork chicks remain in the nest for 58 to 64 days before fledging and the chicks of this ringing attempt were 35-50 days old-as determined by the Kalloni EIC wetland bird monitoring program.
To safely put the rings and take the necessary measurements, the chicks were taken to ground level after reaching the nests with a crane. A special ELSA-type plastic ring was placed on each chick's leg, just above the "knee". This ring (which is black with white engravings for the Greek ringing program), can be read from a distance with the use of a spotting scope and this way ringing centers around the world exchange recovery data.
While at the nest we had the opportunity to remove rubbish commonly accumulated such as plastic bags, cords, etc. items especially dangerous to the safety of the birds that can lead to body part trapping and injuries.
Around the Kalloni Gulf and its coastal wetlands, there were 6 active White Stork nests, this year: 2 by the Agia Paraskevi village and singles at the villages of Kalloni, Papiana, Dafia, and Polichnitos, while a breeding attempt was recorded in Mandamados. Two nests that are located on tall old factory buildings (Agia Paraskevi and Polichnitos) were not possible to be reached and processed.
