Gradierwerk Stork Nest
Live Cam

High above the brine graduation works in Bad Salzungen, a pair of white storks returns each year to a nest perched on the old drilling tower. This camera looks straight into that nest, roughly eighteen metres up, giving a close and unhurried view of one of Thuringia's most watched bird families through the breeding season.

Why Bad Salzungen? The story here goes back to 1998, when a wooden nesting base was fixed to the tower and storks moved in. Once the timber rotted, the town, the local nature conservation group, NABU members and the fire brigade installed a sturdy metal platform in March 2011. Storks have nested on it every year since, in full view of the spa grounds.

Gradierwerk Stork Nest highlights: As you enjoy the live view, be sure to look out for:

• Nest changeovers: Watch the pair swap incubation duties, one bird settling low over the eggs while the other stretches and preens on the rim.
• Chicks growing up: In late spring the young appear as grey scraps of down, then grow into gangly near adults testing their wings in the wind.
• Bill clattering greetings: Arriving storks throw their heads back and rattle their bills, the classic white stork greeting performed right in front of the lens.

Beyond the Nest: Bad Salzungen is a Thuringian spa town built on salt, and the graduation works below the nest are part of that tradition, with brine trickling through blackthorn bundles for visitors to breathe in. The Werra valley, wooded hills and the nearby Rhön uplands make the wider area good walking country.

Thanks to the Stadtverwaltung Bad Salzungen for keeping this camera running and sharing the nest with viewers far beyond Thuringia. Their work, alongside local conservation volunteers who built and maintain the platform, is why anyone can watch these storks from anywhere in the world.

Tune in during the breeding season to follow the pair as they raise their young, or drop by any time for a quiet look across the rooftops of Bad Salzungen.