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Stork From Famous Documentary Is Seen Protecting Chicks From Hailstorm With Her Own Body

This is the moment Yaren the stork – known for her 10-year friendship with a local fisherman that featured in an award-winning documentary – uses her body to protect her chicks during a hailstorm.

The incident was filmed near the village of Eskikaraagac in the district of Karacabey in the north-western Turkish province of Bursa.

In the video, seconds before the storm starts, Yaren moves to protect her chicks. She touches them with her feet to make sure they are okay and properly in position, and then covers them with her wings to protect them from the rain.

The stork named Yaren visited the Turkish fisherman once again in the village of Eskikaraagac, located in the Karacabey district of the northwestern Turkish city of Bursa. (@alpertuydes/Newsflash)

When heavy rain turns to hail in a short time, Yaren uses her body to shield her young chicks.

Nature photographer Alper Tuydes, who shared the clip with Newsflash, said: “Yaren realised the intensity of the sudden downpour just in time and went to protect her chicks.

“When the downpour suddenly turned to hail, she opened her wings fully so that her chicks would not be harmed and took cover to protect them. All the chicks are healthy and well.”

The stork named Yaren visited the Turkish fisherman once again in the village of Eskikaraagac, located in the Karacabey district of the northwestern Turkish city of Bursa. ( @alpertuydes/Newsflash)

Alper added: “This is just one of the many challenges they deal with in nature, and you see how hard animals are struggling.”

The famous stork shares an unlikely friendship with a Turkish fisherman who she has been visiting for 10 straight years.

A lake in Eskikaraagac is the location of the award-winning documentary ‘Yaren’, which follows the 10-year friendship of the stork and the fisherman.

A stork named Yaren protects her chicks by snuggling up during a hailstorm in Bursa, Turkey. (@alpertuydes/Newsflash)

Yaren migrates from Africa every spring and spends six months on the lake visiting fisherman Adem Yilmaz on his boat every day.

The successful documentary made Yaren a household name in animal-loving Turkey, with many people following her annual migrations and how the unlikely pair reunite every year.

According to the national newspaper Bursada Bugun, the unique friendship was first brought into the public domain when it was photographed by Tuydes, whose images garnered international acclaim, and their story got made into a movie that won the best documentary at the Prague Film Awards.

A stork named Yaren protects her chicks by snuggling up during a hailstorm in Bursa, Turkey. (@alpertuydes/Newsflash)

A day after the stork visited the fisherman in March, he said: “I was wondering if Yaren would come this year because she was three days late this year. I am delighted now. I see Yaren as one of my children. I will fish and feed Yaren during the six months she stays in the village.

During spring, tens of thousands of storks migrate from Africa to European countries via Turkey and Eskikaraagac is the only Turkish village to be a member of the European Stork Village Union.

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