On Friday, 12 May, the nestlings belonging to the peregrine pair that has been nesting on the chimney of the ORLEN Unipetrol heating plant at Chempark in Záluží u Litvínova were ringed. The rings serve as the peregrines’ “ID cards”. Thanks to the ring each nestling received, ornithologists will be able to identify them easily in the future and monitor the numbers of this critically endangered raptor in our country. This year, the peregrine pair on the chimney of the Litvínov refinery succeeded in having four nestlings. At both refineries where the peregrines nest, a total of eight chicks were born; they can be watched online via www.starameseosokoly.cz.
“Peregrines are critically endangered birds of prey and their numbers are therefore carefully monitored. Each successful fledgling supports the peregrines’ return to the landscape. Together with ORLEN Unipetrol, we have been monitoring the peregrines on the chimneys of the Litvínov site since 2011; since then, the local peregrines have had more than 30 young. In the coming weeks, it will be possible to watch the nestlings explore the surroundings of their nest box, and sometime in June they will fledge,” says ornithologist Václav Beran from the association ALKA Wildlife.
“This season has been very successful in terms of the number of young, which gives us great joy. We regularly prepare for the peregrine nesting. Before the return of the peregrine pair, we always clean the nest boxes and prepare the technical equipment for the coming season. From the moment the female starts brooding the eggs, the entire nesting period can be watched by means of online cameras at www.starameseosokoly.cz. On the online stream, one can watch the nestlings from the time they hatch through their ringing to their fledging,” says Katarzyna Woś, Vice-Chair of the board of directors of the ORLEN Unipetrol Group.
The ringing is a harbinger of the fledging that is soon to come for the young peregrines. At first, several weeks after having been ringed, they will start exploring the surroundings of their nest box, will learn to fly, and will leave the nest fully sometime in June. After two to three years, these young peregrines will start looking for their own territories to live in and produce the next generation of young. “Thanks to the ringing scheme, we know that peregrines that have hatched in Litvínov are living not only here in the north, but also in Western and Central Bohemia, Poland, Saxony, Bavaria, and even in France. For instance, this year we know that a male born in Litvínov three years ago produced young with a German female on the chimney of the Trmice heating plant,” adds Václav Beran.
The ORLEN Unipetrol Group is the largest refining and petrochemical company in the Czech Republic. It focuses on crude oil processing and the production, distribution and sale of vehicle fuels and petrochemical products – particularly plastics and fertilisers. It belongs among the key players on the Czech and Central European markets in all these areas. The ORLEN Unipetrol Group encompasses refineries and production plants in Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou, Paramo in Pardubice, Spolana in Neratovice, REMAQ in Otrokovice, and two research centres in Litvínov and Brno. Unipetrol also includes the Benzina ORLEN filling station network in the Czech Republic and a network of ORLEN outlets in Slovakia and Hungary. In 2005, ORLEN Unipetrol became a member of the ORLEN Group, the largest multi-energy company in Central Europe. ORLEN Unipetrol employs almost 6,000 people and is active in corporate social responsibility. It seeks to promote initiatives that cultivate and support sustainable development, education, local communities, and the environment.