They are there ! For the past ten days, storks have been flying again in the Alsatian sky. No need to be a keen observer to see them. Here in Colmar, there in Strasbourg or in one of the most beautiful villages in France, Eguisheim. “I also saw several in Neuwiller-lès-Saverne, in the north of Bas-Rhin”, testifies Yves Muller.
The regional president of the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) is not surprised. It’s just the season! “Every year, journalists believe that they come back earlier and earlier. But it always happens around mid-February, ”he laughs. “For those who leave. »
Because the famous waders are no longer as wandering as before… The great migrations through the Strait of Gibraltar and the warm winters in Niger, Mali, Nigeria, etc. are over. “For several years, we have noticed that they have gone less far,” continues the specialist. “They often go to the south of France, to Spain, even to the north of Morocco. »
Near the Rhine or landfills
Some don’t even move at all. Or more, even if it means staying in Alsace despite the cold of autumn and winter. “Wandering flocks of white storks settle on the banks of the Rhine. Simply where they find food. Far from their nest, but close to the rodents, amphibians and lizards on which these carnivores feed.
Worse, others are settling near… open dumps. “Where they find leftover food, mice, rats which they are fond of”, further details Yves Muller, whose services carried out an accurate count of black and white waders last year.
Results ? Haut and Bas-Rhin are indeed the departments with the most storks, with 559 and 860 pairs recorded respectively. Against 488 in Moselle out of a total of 2170 duos in the Grand-Est. A record when the species had almost disappeared from the radar fifty years ago. In 1974, there were only nine breeding pairs left in Alsace, and a tenth in the whole of France.
Protection and reintroduction operations have since borne fruit. The proof, the association for the protection and reintroduction of storks in Alsace Lorraine (Aprecial) even dissolved itself in 2016, its mission fulfilled. One question remains: will the storks eventually become too numerous?
“I’m not saying that there are too many”, replies the president of the LPO Alsace. “But since 2001, we have warned that breeding and release should be stopped. Today, there are no more and it is food that will become the limiting factor in the development of the population. If there is not enough, it will shrink. »
There is a bit of leeway. On average, a couple gives birth to two storks “but it can go up to 3, 4, 5”. The Alsatian sky has not finished echoing “clac, clac, clac”.