In the Poltava region, the storks Lel and Kvitka lost their nest due to the return of the former owners
The previous occupants—Odar and Hrytsyk—returned on April 5–6 to the nest located within the Pyriatyn National Nature Park, where a new pair of storks—Kvitka and Lel—had formed on April 2.
This was reported by researcher Iryna Sarazhynska.
Odarka arrived first. According to Sarazhynska, she quickly reclaimed the nest from the young pair: “The harmony of the pair didn’t work out; the young Kvitka was frightened by the stronger Odarka. Lel flew after Kvitka several times, but she never returned to compete with her rival.” Odarka had previously raised several generations of chicks in this nest: five in 2023, three in 2024, and four in 2025.
The next day, April 6, Hrytsyk flew to the nest and engaged in a fight with Lel. “Storks always fight desperately for their home. Today, Lel and Hrytsyk demonstrated this, with Hrytsyk defeating his rival,” the researcher noted.
Now Lel has a chance to return to Kvitka, with whom he had a harmonious pair before the previous owners intervened. The situation in the nest remains dynamic, and the fate of the pair has not yet been finally decided.
In addition, some of Ukraine’s most revered birds—storks—are beginning to return to the Chernobyl zone, heralding the arrival of spring.
