Residents of Akpınar village in Nevşehir’s Kozaklı district have been monitoring two storks, which they named “Garip” and “Gurbet,” with a camera they installed to observe the nest on an electricity pole for the past seven years.
The two storks, which arrived in the village in 2019 and built a nest on the electricity pole across from the mosque, quickly won the affection of locals.
Villagers installed a camera on the mosque minaret opposite the nest through the village administration to follow their guests more closely. In this way, they have been able to monitor the entire process from the egg-laying period to the chicks’ first flight.
Village head Minnet Abdioğlu told state-run Anadolu Agency that the storks have created a different kind of excitement in the village for years.
Noting that the idea of installing a camera emerged due to villagers’ interest in the two storks, Abdioğlu said, “In 2019, the storks tried to build a nest on top of the electricity pole. The sticks they placed kept falling. I asked the MEDAŞ teams for help, and we put a fruit crate on top of the pole. They settled in the crate and built their nest. Every year, they arrive in April and leave at the end of August with their chicks. They have become the mascot of our village. We regularly watch them through our security camera. We follow the chicks’ development, feeding and flights and inform the villagers.”
“People also come to the village office to watch, and I constantly send them footage on their phones. We all watch our storks together. They are the favorite of our village. We look forward to them every year and feel happy when they arrive. We say our ‘pilgrim stork’ has come. Children love them as well. The stork is currently incubating and has three eggs,” he added.
