Sick and injured storks being tended to in Põlva County
At Muna Farm near Mehikoorma in Põlva County, injured or sick storks receive rehabilitation. In five years, more than 80 have recovered and flown again.
In the village of Meeksi in Räpina Municipality, Reelika and Anti Ljubajev have built a large enclosure in their yard for storks in need of care, creating conditions where the birds can receive proper treatment.
"People can contact us if they see a stork in need by the roadside. Or if it's already late autumn and a bird hasn't migrated yet — people get concerned and reach out. We always try to help, assess the situation and, if necessary, go after the storks ourselves, catch them and bring them here for rehabilitation," said Anti Ljubajev.
Storks can be injured in many ways, most often by lingering near highways or flying into power lines.
"The ones that stay the longest with us are those that arrive in the fall. They can't be released before April. When other storks return from the south, we free our patients too. In summer, we usually take in stork chicks that their parents have thrown out of the nest — either because of food shortages or health issues that people cannot detect. With them, it takes two to three months," explained Reelika Ljubajev.
Now that autumn has arrived, eight storks currently in care have grown restless.
"You can see it when the weather is sunny and calm or when there's just a light breeze — they get nervous, pace along the edge of the enclosure and flap their wings. It's clear they're eager to fly free already, but they still have to wait a little longer," said Anti Ljubajev.
--
Editor: Marcus Turovski, Marko Tooming
