You don’t need to go anywhere to see this landmark in the Poltava region of Ukraine. On the contrary, if you come here, you won’t see anything as well as you would like. But if you have a fast internet connection, then everything will be clearly visible.
The thing is that this landmark of Poltava region is available online. These are common storks that have become famous all over Ukraine thanks to the fact that their life can be seen around the clock and online.
They started to turn off the electricity. The broadcast is interrupted. This means that the link to the broadcast may change!
The story of Hrytsko and Odarka’s storks
Hrytsko and Odarka live in the Pyriatyn community in the village of Leliaky. Their life is filmed around the clock and broadcast on Youtube.
Storks are an ancient symbol of the village of Lelyaki
This project was supposed to be launched in 2021, but was postponed due to Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022. It so happened that the broadcasting equipment was under occupation – it was located in the Kharkiv region. After the liberation of the territories, they were able to transfer it to Leliaky to start showing the life of local storks. On May 15, 2023, everything was set up and the video went live on YouTube.
But in June, at the request of the SBU (SECURITY SERVICE OF UKRAINE), the video was stopped broadcasting. It turned out that the camera was also broadcasting a part of the local highway, and this data could be used by the occupiers for their own purposes. The camera angle was changed and on March 10, 2024, the broadcast was launched again. But this time, Hrytsko and Odarka already had their own channel, Hrytsko’s Stork.
How storks live in Poltava region
Today, not only ordinary citizens, but also teachers and students of the Department of Ecology and Zoology at Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv are actively following Hrytskyi and Odarka’s lives. They use this information for scientific purposes.
In early April 2024, the stork couple laid their first eggs. The father and mother took turns hatching them. A month later, the first chick appeared. As of May 18, 2024, Hrytsko and Odarka already have three cubs. This is usually the case in nature, when storks have 3 chicks per nest. Around June, they may already make their first flight.