Mîmess (Lebanon) (AFP) – Migrating storks stopover at a pine forest in the southern Lebanese village of Mimess as they make their way north towards Europe. Flocks of White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) travel through Lebanon in the spring on their way to breed in eastern Europe. According to the Association for Bird Conservation in Lebanon (ABCL), thousands of these birds are illegally shot down in Lebanon every migration season.