Two storks, surprise guests of Patara

ANTALYA

Two storks seen in the ancient city of Patara, the capital of the Lycian Union in the Kaş district of Antalya, in mid-January has excited the excavation team working there. The storks were spotted on the walls of Anatolia’s first wireless telegraph station, and after spending some time there, they flew hovering over the ancient city.

Seeing the two storks in the ancient city of Patara outside the migration season was surprising for Havva İşkan, the head of Patara excavations and professor at the Akdeniz University, and other members of the excavation team who photographed the storks.

“Two storks flew in Patara all day, then they disappeared. I hope they did not head north because it is cold there. I hope they began to nest in the reeds near the Tekrlek Lake, the wetland in Patara. And as Patara has a mild climate, their nutrition will also be no problem here. I want them to stay here and survive. Storks add meaning and joy wherever they go. They are symbols of happiness and the life cycle. I would be so sorry if they left the region,” she said.

Speaking about the coming of the storks to the ancient city of Patara in the middle of winter, Akdeniz University’s Faculty of Science Biology Department academic staff member Professor Ali Erdoğan said: “This is very early in the middle of January. However, the habitat of some bird species has shifted north due to global warming. There has been no migration of migratory birds that we have observed so far.”

“Probably these two storks are a couple. At the time of migration, they might have stayed in the region due to illness or other reasons and did not migrate because the fact that they are seen here in this season does not comply with the migration calendar. Couples meet at the nest. There is no record of their migration in the middle of winter. This is a deviation and must be observed,” he added.