Black Stork Nest in Karula, 2021

[sova]

Good evening to all

Everything is said everything, pictures are taken.
I just hope that the third one doesn't take too long ... he / she should hatch quickly

[Heloise]

Hello, sova!

Little chicks and the egg are talking loudly, Karl II gets up

[Swenja]

Thank you for all the photos, videos and comments!
I'm so happy about the little black storks and how well Kaia and Karl II do everything together.

I hope that Kaia can come to the nest as early as possible tomorrow and bring some of the little food.
The second chick would like to eat something small.

What happened today:
Karl II was in the nest overnight.
05:16 Kaia came, Karl II brought nesting material
06:18 Karl II away
around 06:55-58 first chick hatched
09:41 Karl II came, he got some moss
09:44 Kaia away
15:50 Kaia came, Karl II away
at 17:44 second chick hatched
18:06-18:53 Camera off
19:36 Karl II came, Kaia away
Karl II, 2 chicks, 1 egg are in the nest overnight.

Good night

[Anne7]

...
I just hope that the third one doesn't take too long ... he / she should hatch quickly

Hello, Sova
I agree, it would be best if the third chick would hatch soon.

Shouldn't Kaia come with an evening meal? It doesn't look so. I guess it's a bit long for the little ones to be without food until tomorrow morning.

That would be really good, Michi.
But I don't think she's coming tonight. It is Karl II's turn now. To be okay, he should have fed his chicks already a few times by now. But that giant eel hasn't been useful yet.
And apparently he has nothing else to offer.

Good night everyone


Sleep well, wonderful little chicks.
Sleep well, Karl II and Kaia.

[Heloise]

Karl II is sleeping, the egg is talking (sometimes)...
... everything seems to be fine!
Thank you all for the great discussions, photos and videos!

Good night, our little Karula-family and all good people!



P.S. I hope tomorrow morning Liz01 and Swenja will show us the third chick!

22:50:40 very loud egg talking, Karl II got up for a while

[Owlie]

Hello, Sova
I agree, it would be best if the third chick would hatch soon.



That would be really good, Michi.
But I don't think she's coming tonight. It is Karl II's turn now. To be okay, he should have fed his chicks already a few times by now. But that giant eel hasn't been useful yet.
And apparently he has nothing else to offer.

Good night everyone

Is it reasonable to wish so human for the storks to behave according to our wishes? Sorry, but I just wonder and

[Michi]

Is it reasonable to wish so human for the storks to behave according to our wishes? Sorry, but I just wonder and

Owlie, it has nothing to do with "human wishes" when you talk about missing feeding in the evening, which is actually necessary. The chick that hatched early in the morning, if I see it correctly, had its last meal at 5 pm. Until Kaia comes tomorrow, that is a very long time without food. Karl II tried a feeding, but had no suitable food.
I guess you know that baby storks need to be fed very often.

I am surprised that you are wondering about our remarks.

[Anne7]

I couldn't get to sleep and realised that I forgot to tell where Karl II has been today, when he wasn't at the nest.

He has been flying around a lot today, although never very far away from the nest. But he visited many places.

After he left the nest at 06:18 he flew to a very small open space in the woods, about 500 m from the nest. There he stayed until about 07:45.
At 08:05 we see him at a brook about 2 km further away.
At 08:35 he is already somewhere else, again about 2 km further, in a place that looks like a 'wet' area.
At 09:05 he is somewhere else again, at a little creek in a forest.
At 09:35 he is on his way to the nest at a speed of 41 km/h.

At 09:41, he arrives at the nest.

Around 15:50 he leaves the nest again, after Kaia arrived.
At 16:05 he flies at 26 km/h to a feeding site about 5.5 km away from the nest. I think it is a small ditch.
Between 17:05 and 17:35 he is somewhere else again, at the edge of a little pond.
At 17:45 again another place.
Between 18:15 and 19:25 again somewhere else. I think this looks like a 'soggy' area.
At 19:35, he is almost back at the nest, flying at 26 km/h.

At 19:36, he's back on the nest.


Good night again, everyone!
Many thanks to all for your observations, videos and pictures.

Sleep well, Michi

[Tatiana60]

A delightful day... Better than any TV show...
The first stork chick started to emerge from the egg from 06.55.44 to 07.10.28, when it emerged from the egg.

At 16: 34-35, the lid of the 2nd egg opens slightly, see:


and then, at 17.44, we see the second chicken.
As you can see: the first and second started and finished the birth with an interval of about 10 hours...

The second one was just as big as the first one (big head and eyes), only he started eating later... but I think he'll catch up with the first one.

They differ in their voices ( the second chirps like a grasshopper or a small bird).

Thank you to all the forum participants. With you, it's just wonderful, we are separated by thousands of kilometers, but we are together... by and large, this is what nature intended: people - humanity - is one large community, in order to survive on Earth, we must be together...

Kaia's very first egg-a creamy egg-now lies in front of us... what awaits us with him? With these thoughts, I go to bed...

Good night, everyone. See you tomorrow!

[balistar]

Unfortunately i'm late, i'm sorry i wasn't able to write earlier, but hopefully it is not too late

17:57 Just now Karl II planned to feed the storklets.

17:57:24 Out of his beak comes this really big snake? Or better, an eel?
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/512 ... 2ff1_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/512 ... c67f_c.jpg

19:57:26 Karl II stretches his neck far upward to swallow the large piece of prey again. It went immediately back in his crop, before spitting it out.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/512 ... c9bf_c.jpg

No feeding this time. Karl II obviously has nothing else to feed.

....
That would be really good, Michi.
But I don't think she's coming tonight. It is Karl II's turn now. To be okay, he should have fed his chicks already a few times by now. But that giant eel hasn't been useful yet.
And apparently he has nothing else to offer.
....

Michi, Anne

i just wanted to add that Karl II actually brought two eels, they were two of them in Karl's beak, the gigantic one and a smaller/shorter one.
19.57 the shorter one fell to the nest ground as he was about to eat the long giant one back.
19.58 he ate the shorter one back, without having offered it to the little ones.

I was hoping he might regurgitate the shorter eel again later before it became dark, but no.
Well, i think he'll know what he's doing.


19.57.25
two eels in Karl's beak, the giant on the left, the smaller on the right


the smaller eel is falling down on the nest ground


it landed there (yellow arrow) while Karl II pulls the giant eel back into his throat

[balistar]

19.58.53
Karl II picked up the smaller eel from nest ground without having offered it to the storklets


come on little eel, jump back into my throat


almost swallowed - and immediately afterwards Karl II ate a portion of moss

[balistar]

these pictures of the sweet little newborn storklets i like so much, i'd like to share them with you:

19.57 the cute siblings


19.58


awwww, aren't they just lovable ?


and again i want to thank you all for spending the hatch-day of the first two storklets together and for all the beautiful pictures and videos, the lovely comments, the summary of happenings of the day (by Swenja) and the "almost" lifted secrets of Karl's feeding and sleeping places outside the nest (by Anne)
it's so nice to be with you all

you little one in the egg, rest well and regain strength to break out of your eggshell tomorrow

good night everyone

[Tatiana60]

29 May


03:13 The stork's night duty smoothly turns into the dawn of the next day.

[balistar]

Tatiana,
you are too fast - or i'm too slow

i was just about to insert an observation of yesterday's late evening, sorry, i'll destroy the chronology for a post

22.51 Karl got up and i saw a big line of opened egg lid, maybe half way around,
which the chick inside has sawed open with his egg tooth. It was no moss nor a little twig, because when Karl II later rolled the egg it moved with it



Karl is digging in the nest bowl and both little ones asking loudly for a late night snack



23.16 Karl II up again
23.17 storklets twittering and Karl II digging in the nest bowl, then Karl II down on storklets and egg
23.23 i hear a woodcock - dear Estonians, is this possible in the dark ?? (otherwise it was a tree-frog ?)

00.38 a roe deer is barking from far
00.59 storklet/s twittering
02.26 first light visible through the trees in the sky

03.00 early birds start their morning concert at dawn
03.33 outlines of the nest and Karl II recognizable, Karl II moves a little and 1 storklet is awake
03.33 egg-chick is audible, Karl II opens his eyes now and then

[balistar]

Good morning everyone

03.48.57 Karl II gets up - and we see still two storklets, sleeping side by side, and one egg in front


Karl woke them up with his beak, went to the toilet and...

03.49.17 ...back to the storklets and rolls the egg

[balistar]

04.35 a cuckoo joins the morning concert, and cranes

04.44 the rising sun flashes in between tree trunks - Karl II and the storklets are sleeping or snoozing


04.50
Karl II gets up, the elder storklet is awake, the younger still sleeping, egg still in front


Karl II rolls the egg and i couldn't see the cracked line anymore, maybe on the other side
storklet 1 woke storklet 2, Karl II went to the toilet, rolled the egg again, both storklets back to sleep


04.51 Karl II lay down again

that's what i'll do now, too - see you later

[balistar]

....
I hope that Kaia can come to the nest as early as possible tomorrow and bring some of the little food.
The second chick would like to eat something small.
....

Swenja, she has heard you



05.08.04 Kaia arrives
05.08.09 Kaia greets Karl II, she touches his beak with her beak, he gets up
05.08.27 Karl II flies off from curved branch

05.08.30 Kaia says good morning to the storklet, makes a PS over the curved branch and back to the storklets

05.08.52 Kaia nudges a storklet with her beak, ooops, it falls over on his back, but is right back on top


05.09.43 feeding - Kaia brought little things


both storklets are hungry, the are laying side by side and digging their little beaks into the little pile of small fish
- and other small things like worms - they eat with big appetite

[balistar]

05.10.59 Kaia eats some small fish back, storklets have eaten well,
one had even a long worm, it was the younger and he had a struggle with it and a lot of moss on it

the elder came "shall i help you ?" - "no, thank you, i can eat it alone"


05.11.52 Karl II came with a big complicated branch, the two storklets tired from eating


05.12.08 he flies off with the branch --- look at those two little ones, full and satisfied - for now !!

[Biker]

5:09:43

The younger one grabbed the first bite


Oops,
The time is still missing..
i will add later

[Swenja]

Good morning!

Many Thanks @Tatiana60, @balistar @Biker

Kaia is great nice little pieces of food.

05:12 Karl II brings a branch. Kaia seems to be annoyed right now.
05:12:08 Karl II flies off to the right with the branch.
05:12:27 He brought the branch to the nest from the left.

Karl II brought nesting material until 05:47.
05:47:09 Karl II flies to the breakfast.

06:24:34 Kaia hisses.