To the stork village Grossaffoltern

The hike to the storks first leads through neighborhoods of Schüpfen, then across the A6 motorway, and finally into the forest. After just a few meters, it becomes quiet and the hiking trail seems to lead into another world. Upon emerging from the forest, the great expanse surprises you; Grossaffoltern can be seen in the distance. Storks are mostly already visible in the surrounding fields and farmland, searching for mice, frogs, insects, caterpillars, or worms. There is busy air traffic in the sky over the village. Elegantly, the storks glide over the roofs of Grossaffoltern to their nests on rooftops of all kinds. Due to limited space, individual stork pairs also nest in fruit trees. Now in summer, the young storks can already fly well. For the night, however, they still return to their nests, where, after hatching, they have been protected from rain and sun for weeks by one of the adult birds. With a body length of 100 cm, the stork is one of the largest birds in Central Europe. When landing and taking off, the storks appear somewhat awkward. With their two-meter wingspan, however, they are elegant gliders and can cover large distances without flapping their wings while soaring. Whoever has had enough of observing can continue hiking through the shady forest to Ottiswil and from there along the forest edge further to the destination of the hike in Lyss. Text: Sabine Joss