Oh dear me, a long hard Winter for Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

The regular visitors to Gurko Street, Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria, the beautiful storks, have been leaving early and migrating south in droves this year and according to the elderly, this is a sure sign that Winter will arrive early and set in for a long period with cold temperatures and abundant snow!

A beautiful pair of white storks
so common around Veliko Tarnovo

The frozen Yantra, Veliko Tarnovo,
Bulgarian Properties were frozen up last Winter, the question is...
did the Storks leave early last Summer 2011, or is it all an old wives tale?

The well known Bulgarian belief is that if storks fly South before 22nd August the Autumn will be short and a freezing Winter will set in early with heavy falls of snow. If the Stork flocks fly away by September 1st-2nd, then Autumn and Winter will be average, the elderly say.
This year, 2012, Storks flew South as early as August 15th. “This is unusually early for migration and forecasts frosty winter,” commented Nikolay Pavlov a retired teacher of biology.

Stark Winter weather will come early to the region of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

Swallows and Swifts and House Martins have also behaved strangely this year as they usually migrate at the end of September but this year they have been flocking with their young, over the rooftops of the Bulgarian properties here in Veliko Turnovo ready for the long flight back to Africa. This also predicts severe winter that will start possibly in October, according to folklore beliefs.

River Yantra Gorge Veliko Tarnovo in freezing weather January 2012

Last year 2011, the surrounding villages South of Veliko Tarnovo were cut off in mid October for a couple of days when a freak snow storm devoured the countryside and fruit and oak trees that were still in full leaf!