A flood in the nest
Translated by Scott Diel
Yesterday it rained hard and today, from the middle of the night to midday, 50 mm more rain fell in the forest. It was a soaked-through night and first half of the day. In the center of the nest a puddle formed… Rains before Midsummer's Day are called manna from Heaven for nature. The drought is over.
It's good that the evening temperatures did not drop below ten degrees in the forest. Afternoon brought the sun and the southern wind dried things out. But Donna and Padis didn't get to dry off. Before midday Donna was still soaked through. After the rain stopped they fed the chicks even more.
It's tough to compare the data from last year's chicks since banding did not take place at the exact same age (around a week's difference). Nonetheless, Martin has assembled a table of comparison:
_______________________________
2.6kg................1.84kg.............-0.76kg
2.2kg................1.78kg.............-0.42kg
2.0kg................1.48kg.............-0.52kg
