An unusual love drama unfolded in a stork nest in the small Saxon town of Mügeln (district of North Saxony) after a pair of storks returned from their summer quarters at the end of last month. "After three days, when they had already settled in, a foreign stork arrived - there were scuffles - and our old stork was unfortunately chased away," said Hans-Jürgen Höhne, chairman of the Mogelin local history association.
The origin of the new bird is particularly noteworthy: it is a ringed stork - an animal with a small metal ring on its leg, which can be used to trace its origin. The ring shows: The stork comes from Lake Constance - around 600 kilometers away. "We were surprised that this stork came to us from so far away," Höhne continued.
Bodo from Lake Constance - a name that connects
The local association named the new arrival Bodo in reference to his origins - fitting, as Mügeln has been twinned with the municipality of Bodman-Ludwigshafen (Constance district) on Lake Constance for 25 years.
Bodo and the female Mogelina are obviously getting to know each other better and better. The new stork spends a lot of time at the eyrie and is very active, said Höhne. The displaced old stork had always looked after the offspring in recent years - now the hope is that the new candidate will also take on responsibility: "You can say from the outset: it could be something."
"That was really crazy" - battle for territory experienced up close
The stork representative of the local heritage association, Bernhard Sommer, also followed the territorial battle - directly from the house: "That was really crazy." Sommer was glad that the fight had gone off lightly. "There are fights that end badly". According to Sommer, it is not unusual for storks to cheat. The important thing is that there is a pair in Mügeln again - the whole community is happy about that.
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