Still after all of these years, I get pretty excited over seeing a stork nest! Locals in the village say, when you see a stork nest that means that there is peace in the village. Hungary has launched a campaign to protect storks nesting. There is an estimated 160 stork chicks in 27 settlements around the country. With most of the nest being built on top of the power poles, the electricity providers help by placing baskets on top of poles. Also included is some sort of high tec tracking system that allows scientiest to chart the birds, locate their resting places and gather other information on how loyal they are to their mates. This has proved to be a great success with the birds as well as the villagers. Storks return from their wintering place early April and lay three to six eggs a few days later. Chicks hatch one month later and leave the nest eight to nine weeks after that. Roughly 5,000 white stork pairs are nesting in Hungary. This is 1/3 of the number prior to WWII.
