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In early spring the pastures are deserted, but
as the sun begins to warm the earth the silence
is gradually broken. Mountain hyacinths push
through the soil to paint purple patches on
the landscape. The buzzing of bees fills the
air, woodpeckers bang noisily on the tree trunks,
and migrating birds wing their way through the
sky, all declaring that winter is now really
over. Soon the swathes of hyacinths make way
for yellow flowers, and robins, nightjars, and
the rare black storks appear in the woods of
ash, beech, Scots pine, oak, alder and fir.
This is the moment when trucks set out from
the direction of Bolu, climbing the steep mountain
road to the Seben pastures that lie at an average
altitude of 1400 metres. They are carrying neither
sand, nor logs nor cement. Instead the astonished
faces of cows and water buffalos look out over
the sides of the trucks. The annual migration
to the mountains has begun.
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