Storks Rejoin Their Granny Meryem

Nests are being prepared again for storks in Avşar, Söke, one of the stamping grounds for migrant birds in Turkey. These nests have been placed traditionally for 12 years. The project A New Home for Storks first started in the neighborhood called Avşar 12 years ago, which then set an example with the awareness it raised and spread across the country in a short time.

A sign of spring, storks have completed their migration path and started to come to their nests in rural areas in Aydın. The project ‘A New Home for Storks’ was first launched by ADM Elektrik in Söke, Aydın in 2009 with the intent to protect nature and natural life, and it has continued non-stop for 12 years. The project is about placing special life platforms suitable for storks to build their nests on top of the poles in the power distribution line. Our teams perform technical maintenance on the special life platforms that we place before the migration season, we perform cleaning and checks in the stork nests, and insulate the power distribution lines near the nests. The company is very careful about its investment projects also in areas where there are lot of migration paths and storks, and is supported by the habitants of Avşar, one of the places that storks migrate to the most.

Granny Meryem, 'The Mother of Storks'

A resident in the neighborhood, Meryem Ilgın (72) is known to be ‘The Mother of Storks’ as she previously found some baby storks on the road and brought them home to raise them. She states: “Every year, storks come back to their nests located at various spots in our neighborhood. In the past years we saw stork chicks on the road. When I saw them, I thought they would be hurt there and I couldn’t stop myself from bringing them home. I named one of them Yaşar, and the other one was called Efe. I wrapped them in cotton to raise them. I had my husband to catch fish in the lake near our neighborhood and bought eggs to feed them. Then again I became home to another stork. It was a bit big; it kept everybody away from me and never left my side. If I saw a stork in a difficult position now, I would do the same. I love animals”.

Ilgın thanked the company for their support: “Thank you to the teams for coming every year to check the nests. They clean up the threads and pieces of plastic to prevent tangles on their feet. The nests on top of the poles are beautiful, too. Now, storks build their nests in these places instead of spots that might risk their lives”.

ADM Elektrik collaborates with the Department of Biology at the Faculty of Science in Ege University, and Ecosystem Preservation and Natura Lovers Association (EKODOSD) for sustainability, nesting and counting of the stork population; supports health and rehabilitation of storks that are in immediate need, and quickly meets their needs for new nests.