Latvian WtE nest webcamera Juras-erglis Durbe 2019

[ame]

White-tailed sea eagles in Latvia: Juras-Erglis 2019

A new topic for the new year!



The beginning season is direct continuation to the previous season as the camera has been working practically without major breaks. You may catch up where we came from here:
viewtopic.php?p=627188#p627188

Camera links

The video transmission from the nest is streaming in Youtube, presently (starting from October 30)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAgwWCd ... dded_uturn

[In case we would need the previous addresses
25 Jan - 29 Oct:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoudX2L-sLE
10 Jan - 24 Jan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELJaOoNNbwk
19 Oct 2017 - 9 Jan 2019:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu7bChYGfiA ]

The Youtube stream can be scrolled back in time 12 hours from present. This way it is possible to see what happened at the nest 12 hours (or less) earlier. This makes it also possible to record the delayed stream with some screen recording program. From the Settings-button in the lower right corner one can adjust the resolution of the picture. For recordings it's best to use as high resolution as possible.

The address of the Youtube may sometimes change. If this should happen the new address can be found by making a search 'juras erglis webcamera' in the Youtube. The link to the WTE camera, as well as the other the live cameras of Latvia's Nature Fund LDF (Latvijas dabas fonds), can also be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIcQwg ... hMBclDJENw
The WTE camera is not on the top of the list so you need to scroll down a little. In Latvian it is called "LDF Jūras ērglis tiešraide".
We'll try to remember to update the address here if it changes. If you have trouble finding the camera please let us know (write to ame or Liz01) and we'll try to help.

An introduction to the Latvian nest cameras is given here (in Latvian but you can try your luck with some translating machine like Google Translator; recently the translations have unfortunately been corrupted by some comedians who are changing the meanings of words):
http://ldf.lv/lv/tiesraide
The WTE topics in DDF (Jūras ērglis) can be found here:
https://forums.dabasdati.lv/viewforum.php?f=27
The WTE 2019 topic in DDF:
https://forums.dabasdati.lv/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3925

The stream can also be viewed (for example) on Potplayer or with VLC player by opening the above URL address. Both Potplayer and VLC can also be used for recording the Youtube stream. Both can be used for taking snapshots from the stream either live or from recorded video. Potplayer can also record delayed stream from screen.

Note! The Youtube stream was changed on 10 Jan 2019 so that the normal Potplayer and VLC cannot receive the stream any more.
A few days later a new way to use Potplayer was discovered. It will be described in the link below:
viewtopic.php?p=628773#p628773

The overall use of Potplayer is discussed here:
viewtopic.php?p=499450#p499450
The use of VLC player is discussed here:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=739

There are also several other screen recording programs which can be used for recording the stream. The use of some of them are also discussed in the Questions and help-topic:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=770


Working hours of the camera

Traditionally the working hours of the live cameras have been different in different times of the year, depending on the lighting conditions. This is because the camera systems are usually powered by solar panels which feed a battery. In order to save energy in the battery the camera is then turned off for the dark time. However, this camera is operating 24/7, thanks to the installation of a methanol fuel cell power system in Autumn 2017. The fuel cell provides power to the camera system when the solar cells will not get enough sunlight to feed the batteries.

Sometimes there may be a malfunction in the streaming system. If refreshing of the Youtube-window or reopening/restarting of Potplayer (or restarting your pc or router in extreme cases) will not help, please report either ame or Liz01 and we'll try to look for help.

The camera time is the local, Eastern European Time EET which is 2 hours ahead of GMT (or Greenwich/London time), and one hour ahead of the Central European Time CET. In summertime the daylight saving time adds one more hour to GMT.
Overseas viewers please note: if you see a black screen check if you can see the time stamp in the lower left corner. It may be night time in Latvia and then the camera shows darkness.

The camera clock normally runs somewhat delayed compared to the 'real' time (your computer time). This delay is quite normal and may vary from time to time from a few seconds to even some minutes. The delay is due to the data transmission chain and its efficiency, and it mainly depends on the speed of each viewer's own internet connection. Therefore it is important that the camera time is given when events at the nest are reported, because the camera time is 'the real time' for the nest. It's also strongly recommended that the camera's date&time stamp is not removed from any pictures that are posted. Without the time stamp the picture will only have an artistic value (which is naturally not overlooked! but it will not be useful for ornithologists).

[ame]

Important events at the nest
searchword searchnestsummary

Events will be added to this list as times goes on and interesting and important events take place.

• The first mating was observed on Jan 27 at 13:06.
  viewtopic.php?p=630201#p630201

• Milda laid the first egg on March 10 at 17:31. The average incubation time is 38 days, so the expected hatching day is April 17, give or take 1 day.
  viewtopic.php?p=636055#p636055

• Milda laid the second egg on March 13 at 17:30, 2 days 23 hours and 59 minutes after the first egg. The expected hatching day is April 20, give or take 1 day.
  viewtopic.php?p=636671#p636671

• March 15 at 15:11 Milda left the nest seemingly frightened and left the eggs alone. Raimis returned at 17:15. The eggs were uncovered for 2 hours and 4 min. The temperature was about 5 degrees and it was windy.
  viewtopic.php?p=637078#p637078

• March 17 began with a surprise: Milda had laid her third egg in the dark of night after 19:30 on March 16. She got up at dawn at 6:07 and showed three eggs. The expected hatching day is April 23 or 24.
  viewtopic.php?p=637445#p637445

• Apr 15 at 23:16 the first egg talk was heard.
  viewtopic.php?p=645033#p645033
  The egg talk was heard during all the next day but the egg didn't open.
  Apr 17 in the night between 1 am and 2 am the egg talk changed to louder chick talk. The moonlight was not bright enough to reveal any details. In the morning at 5:43 the first chick saw daylight for the first time. The incubation time was about 37.5 days.
  viewtopic.php?p=645421#p645421

• Apr 18 at 11:20 egg talk was heard again.
  viewtopic.php?p=645873#p645873
  At 14:51 the "lid" of the second egg was seen opening (see the first post in the following link).
  viewtopic.php?p=646058#p646058
  At 15:12 two chicks were visible. The incubation time was about 36 days.
  viewtopic.php?p=645947#p645947

• The third egg never hatched. It was rolled by the parents till it was buried in the nest material on May 5th. On May 26th the egg resurfaced from the nest materials. It was rolled again every now and then till it finally broke on June 1st in the evening.
  viewtopic.php?p=661712#p661712

• The first precursor of a wing exercise was possibly made on Apr 29 at 15:11
  viewtopic.php?p=650348#p650348
  The next exercise for a wing exercise was seen on Apr 30 at 17:25.
  viewtopic.php?p=650706#p650706
  The first undeniable wing exercise was done on May 6 at 9:46: three vigorous beats.
  viewtopic.php?p=652697#p652697

• A voting for the names was closed in the evening of May 12th. The older eaglet was named Riks and the younger Mika. It was assumed at this point that the older was a male and the younger a female. Later it turned out that the older was probably a female as she grew much bigger than the younger sibling. Also her ankles grew thick. Therefore her name was altered to the feminine form Rika. The younger eaglet remained smaller and his ankles didn't become as thick as his sister's so alter his name was altered to a masculine form Miks. The eaglets were not ringed. they were separated from each other based on the size difference and the difference in the colouring of their tails and other details.
  See a more detailed discussion here:
  viewtopic.php?p=671527#p671527
  viewtopic.php?p=671551#p671551
  viewtopic.php?p=671580#p671580
  viewtopic.php?p=671690#p671690
  viewtopic.php?p=671747#p671747

• On June 19th at 19:23 the younger eaglet Miks jumped to a real branch for the first time. He was 63 days old.
  viewtopic.php?p=667894#p667894
  Before that both eaglets had trained standing on a branch using the sticks on the sides of the nest as their platforms ("fake branching").

• On June 24 the at 16:15 the older eaglet Rika jumped to a real branch for the first time. She was 69 days old.
  viewtopic.php?p=669356#p669356

• July 4th at 15:50 the older eaglet Rika flew out at the age of 79 days.
  viewtopic.php?p=672402#p672402

• July 5th at 8:29 the younger eaglet Miks flew out at the age of 79 days.
  viewtopic.php?p=672591#p672591

• September 30 at 8:49 Raimis brought the first stick for the next nest construction.
  viewtopic.php?p=695182#p695182

[ame]

Introduction


Inhabitants of the nest.


For previous seasons please return to these pages:
2014:

https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 20#p558920

i'll have to make the summary for 2018 later...

[ame]

Identification of the eagles 1/2

Knowing who is who on the nest is not a problem if at least one of the inhabitants wears rings. Unfortunately neither Raimis or Milda have rings and therefore we have to look for details in their appearance or hear their voices.

In general the voices of females and males have different pitches, females lower than males. Females are usually bigger than males and therefore also their vocal organs are bigger than those of males and thus produce lower-pitch voices than the vocal organs of males. In human terms one can say that females are altos and males are tenors. This is also the case with Milda and Raimis. Milda is clearly bigger than Raimis and her voice has much lower pitch than the voice of Raimis. However, it takes some practice before one learns to hear the difference of their voices, or see the size difference. Usually one needs to see or hear them together for comparison in order to see or hear the difference. For a reliable size comparison the eagles should be at the same distance from the camera because the optics of the camera exaggerates perspective strongly.

Female eagles have thicker ankles than males, and especially the shape of the ankles is different. A female's ankle is cone-shaped, like a capital letter V upside down. A male's ankle is the same thickness all the way down, like a capital letter |. This shape difference is easiest to see from the front.
Milda's ankle.


The beaks of females are usually bigger than males' beaks, and more importantly the shape of the beak is different. Urmas Sellis described this: "The male's beak curves down almost from the base of the beak, but the female's beak goes on and on straight out and finally the tip bends down."
The shapes of Milda's and Raimis' beaks are not very much different though so this detail doesn't help much in identifying them.

Below is a picture taken in 2017 of Milda and Raimis standing at about the same distance from the camera. Milda on the left has thicker ankles than Raimis on the right. She is also bigger than Raimis. A partial side view of Raimis' tail can also be seen.


Below a picture taken in 2018 with Raimis on the left and Milda on the right showing their ankles. Raimis is fairly big for a male and has robust build. Raimis is not very much smaller than Milda. His ankles are not very thin and sometimes when comparison to Milda is not available his ankles may look rather thick from certain angles.
In favourable light conditions one can see that the overall colour of Raimis is gray and Milda's colours are more on the brown side.


The tail spots of eagles form individual patterns which allows identification of different eagles. Unfortunately the tail patterns cannot always be very clearly seen. Sometimes the light is bad or we see only part of the tail, or the feathers may be in disorder etc. Fortunately the tail patterns of Milda and Raimis are very different: Raimis has two big spots which form one very big spot if the tail is folded. When he opens his tail wide the two spots may divide into three. His spots are shaped like tulip flowers. He also has black stripes on both sides of his tail (I have called these stripes mustache, because they line the tail like a mustache lines a man's mouth.) The border between the white tail and the dark back is not clear but uneven like a saw-blade. Milda has three small spots in a horizontal line in her otherwise white tail when she spreads her tail wide. Sometimes the middle spot is hiding and only two spots can be seen. Sometimes her spots are united in only one spot. The borderline between her white tail and dark back is clear and smooth.

Milda's tail with small spots and sharp border between the white and dark.
2017:


2018:


Raimis' tail with big spots and uneven border between the white and dark. The "mustache" on the sides are shown with lines.
2017:


2018:

[ame]

Identification of the eagles 2/2

The details of plumages of Milda and Raimis are different. The differences aren't very pronounced and they are difficult to see if the light is not very good.
Here's a picture of Raimis' right wing. Note also the ankle: it is about the same thickness as the toes all its length.
2017:


2018:


Below are pictures of Milda's right wing. One feather in the outer edge of the wing is light. This is usually the detail that helps most in separating the two from each other, if the tail is not seen. Raimis has more than one light feathers in the edge of his right wing. The shape of their beaks is not very much different: Raimis has a rather feminine beak.
2017:


2018:


Below are pictures of Milda's left wing. Also there one feather in the outer edge is lighter than the other, but usually it is not as pronounced as the light feather on the right wing.
2017:


2018. Milda's left wing has changed during the last year. it has a row of dark feathersand a row of light feathers on the outer edge.
- Here Milda also has on top of her head a tuft of a white downy feather which is about to come loose and drop. These loose white downy feathers are not useful as markings for identification.


Below are pictures of the left wing of Raimis. On the whole their left wings are not very well distinguishable. Raimis is also slightly lighter than Milda in overall colour, but this is also not easily seen if they are not present for comparison. It should also be remembered that wet feathers are darker than dry feathers.
-These two last pictures cannot be used for size comparison, because Raimis stands much farther from the camera than Milda. Therefore his apparent size is much smaller than it would be if he stood at the same distance as Milda.
2017:


2018:


The identification of eagles has been discussed in more detail here:
http://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/view ... 02#p433902

Note: The appearance of adult eagles usually remains fairly unchanged from year to year. However, some changes may take place when new feathers replace old dropped feathers in moulting. During moulting season some feathers are lost and new feathers grow as replacements. It takes some time for the new feathers to reach full length and during this time the appearance changes continuously. This happens in the summer and autumn. Some longer-lasting changes are also possible. Some changes are quite temporary, for example feathers get mixed up for some reason or another.

More pictures for helping identifying Milda and Raimis can be found in DDF:
https://forums.dabasdati.lv/viewtopic.p ... 7e#p203884

[ame]

The location of the nest

The location of the nest is in Durbe County near the city Liepāja in Western Latvia, marked with blue line in the maps below. The maps were provided by Jānis Ķuze.


There is one big lake, Durbes ezers, with a nature reserve area. There are also other water areas in the county, both natural and artificial. There is a fish farm in Skrunda (on the right side of the map) with large ponds which are drained for harvesting the fish in autumns. Plenty of fish remain in the ponds after they are drained and the ponds lure flocks of WTEs both young and adult to feed. The fish in shallow water are easy catch for the young eaglets learning to fish. Thus the fish ponds can be called their school.

this nest is located not far away from several farmsteads, that is the reason why dogs can be heard, some of the chainsaws are coming from there as well. ...

Besides dogs we have heard voices of all kinds of farm animals to the nest over the years: cows, cocks, even turkeys.

The nest site was granted a micro reserve status in October 2015. Jānis Ķuze wrote about it in Dabasdati forum on Oct 12 2015:
http://dabasdati.lv/forums/viewtopic.php?p=53464#p53464
Translated with the help of Google translator:
"We just got a message from the State Forest Service - nest is officially established microreserve! It is surrounded by a wide buffer zone in which forestry activities are not allowed during the nesting season. Thus, from the forest to disturb the work, this place is now protected."

We may get some clues about the location of the nest from what we see and hear over the camera. Based on these clues it is possible to narrow down the location of the nest in more detail. We ask every one of you to keep all detailed information about the location to yourselves. Please also do not share any further information about the location anywhere in the internet, not in this forum nor anywhere else. More detailed information of the location of the nest may encourage some people to go and seek the nest in nature. Nest tourism like this is the last thing that is needed here in the delicate breeding time. People near the nest may frighten parents away from the nest and leave eggs or chicks unprotected from weather and predators. Thus an intrusion may lead to destruction of the clutch.
Thank you for your co-operation.

[ame]

The nest

The nest is built in the top of a spruce which has been broken possibly in a storm many years ago. After that several side branches have started to grow as replacement tops. The biggest branch on the right of the nest in these pictures has won the race of becoming the new top. This is also the trunk which we see in the left side of the camera view. The nest is about 30 m above the ground.

A spruce as a nest tree is rare because normally the branches slant downward from the trunk. Branches like this do not form a stable basis for a nest which may eventually weigh tons. The top of this spruce forms a secure basis for the nest: the nest sits in the top like in a palm of a hand with fingers pointing up.

Tringa gave us photographs of the nest tree. This was taken in winter 2015 when the construction of the nest was not finished yet. The top of the nest is now higher, much closer to the branches on the right.
Thank you Tringa!
Apparently the picture is taken from the direction to which the nest camera looks.


Below is a picture made of Tringa's photograph where the branches which we can see in the camera are marked. The branches which we see in the live camera on the left are on the right side of this picture. One special branch is also shown: the "poop branch". The name came naturally since Durberta painted this branch white by shooting poop on it very often. By the end of the season 2015 it was all white. The poop branch also frames the top of our camera view. An ellipse shows the place where the camera is most probably attached to.


Below is a picture of the top of the tree seen from the nest level from the side of the camera. On the left side near the bottom one can see the top of a computer screen and behind it the left branch marked with number 1. This is the lower left branch in the above picture. On the right the branch with number 2 is the "poop branch".


Below is a picture of the camera attached to the tree. It is camouflaged with plastic Christmas decoration twigs.


In summer 2018 the eaglets Robis and Vilnis drew out nest sticks one by one as part of their catching exercises so that gradually the nest disintegrated totally. Thus we were able to see what the foundation of the nest was. In this picture also the microphone can be seen (encircled with a yellow line) together with a visiting nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes).


Later in the autumn the parents Milda and Raimis rebuilt the nest so that by the change of the year the nest is almost as it was a year ago.

Below is a picture of the lower part of the nest tree with Jānis Ķuze as a "2m-stick" climbing up to the nest.


After heavy rains we can hear sounds of water from the ground level. The sounds come from a stream which runs right under the nest tree. Within a few days the water runs out and the sounds become silenced. - Visits to the nest have to be made in the dark time so that the eagles will not notice. This is why these pictures have been taken in darkness.


In this picture below by Sonchik the closest trees in the surroundings are seen in front of the mist. The big oak on the right has been a favourite perch of the parents in this season. We have called the tree the "Observation Oak" (OO). On the right side of the picture behind the right branch of the nest tree the nearest spruce is seen (curved due to the optics of the camera). This spruce has also often served as a perch of the parents and the eaglets, especially the top of the spruce.

The nest is described in more detail here:
http://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/view ... 03#p433903

[ame]

Other information


Dabasdati forum

The nest life of the eagles is also followed in the Latvian Dabasdati forum (often DD forum or just DD or DDF for short like LK or LKF for Looduskalender forum):
http://dabasdati.lv/forums/index.php?si ... 582c70da1b
The live camera topics are under the title "Tiešsaistes kameras Latvijā" and the WTE -topic is called "Jūras ērgļi Durbē, 2019".
https://forums.dabasdati.lv/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3925

The language of the DD forum is Latvian. You can try your luck with some translator machine to communicate there.
Most of the Latvian members understand English, too. Some of the DD members are members in LK, too.
Google Translator is sometimes badly corrupted for Latvian language (some comedians keep changing meanings of words) so it is perhaps best to write your post in DDF in both English and with the translation. Then the moderators can correct the translation if necessary.


Youtube chat

The events on the nest and around it in the forest are also commented in the chat on the Youtube page where the camera is streaming. The topics on the chat are less limited than in the DD forum or our LK forum. Often the comments may hover around quite other things than the nest events.
The chat is multilingual. The chat is reset each time when you shut down your web connection. By reopening the comments from the last hour are shown. Older comments are not stored anywhere.


Weather in Durbe, Latvia

Some websites where one can see the weather forecast for Durbe county, Latvia.
http://www.yr.no/place/Latvia/Other/Durbe/
http://www.accuweather.com/en/lv/durbe/ ... ast/224453
One can search for weather information for using Liepāja, too, since it is the closest larger city near Durbe.


Sky in Durbe, Latvia

This is a nice site where you can create the sky map for any location on any time.
http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/
Here the co-ordinates of Durbe, Latvia are applied:
http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Yourhor ... &elements=

Here the location is set to Durbe, Latvia. Just change the time. Note, that the program requires the UTC time which is 2 hours less than local time in Latvia (in summer time the difference is 3 hours).
http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Yourhor ... &elements=

Sunrise and sunset data for Durbe can be found here:
https://sunrise-sunset.org/search?locat ... 2#calendar

The camera is pointed to about East of South-East. Our viewing angle is marked (approximately) in this sky map. East is in the left side of the camera view and South is in the right side.

One must also remember that we can see only a narrow belt of the sky above the horizon. The area in our view is along the outer rim of the sky map below.


Here are two links to posts where one can see a comparison of the camera view with the sky map. (I'm sorry for the bad quality of the pictures there. It is due to the customer policy of the Photobucket.)
http://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/view ... 36#p510236
http://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/view ... 02#p510702


Hunting calendar in Latvia

Every now and then there is a question when hunting in Latvia is possible.
https://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go ... latvija%2F


Information about donating money for the benefit of the nest camera

... you can support this project - more info can be found here:
http://dabasdati.lv/en/kameras2015
http://dabasdati.lv/en/cat/465

General information

Not only about eagles but some of these links give information about birds' breeding in general.
viewtopic.php?p=685803#p685803

[ame]

The fish-eye optics of the camera lens makes the images curved so that the centre of the picture is stretched and the horizon becomes curved. The picture below shows the landscape as it is in reality. The horizon is straight and the nest level is also more or less flat and horizontal.


This photo is made by Nordri with a program which straightens images of this camera.

[ame]

Ringed eagle visitors at the nest 2019
searchword searchringedvisitors

The list will be updated here if and when some ringed eagles will be identified here.
(If i forget to do this in reasonable time please remind me!)

29.12. 2019 the only ringed visitor of this year was seen when Latvian H485 visited the nest.

...
...

viewtopic.php?p=704431#p704431
Jānis Ķuze wrote that he had ringed this bird as a nestling on 24.05.2017 in a nest near Lake Engure in Western Latvia.
This bird visited the nest already on 27.10. 2017.
viewtopic.php?p=505562#p505562

[ame]

Frequently asked questions FAQ

There are some questions about eagles and their breeding which rise repeatedly over and again during nesting seasons. Answers to these questions are looked for and given given during the season(s), but often they are difficult to find afterwards.

Therefore keywords for making searches for finding the answers are added in the posts containing answers. Below is a list of these keywords. This list will be supplemented as new keywords are found useful.

• searcheggdevelopment for searching posts with answers concerning processes involving mating behaviour and development of eggs before and after egg-laying.

• searchhatching for searching posts about when and how chicks hatch.

• searchringing for searching information about ring-marking (or banding) of eaglets or other information about marking eaglets with rings or radio transmitters.

• searchfledging for searching posts about how and when eaglets fledge.

• searchnestsummary for searching for a short summary of the events during a nesting season.

• searchringedvisitors for searching ringed eagles or even other birds whose ring codes have been read at the nest.

• searchliterature for searching references (articles, books etc) about WTEs.

• searchcameradelay for searching information on the delay of the camera time relative to 'real' time.

• Advice about how to make searches in the forum can be found in the Questions and help -topic here:
  http://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=595

[ame]

reserved

[ame]

Jan 1

welcome to the new year's topic!


at midnight there were some fireworks in the sky in the east and in south-east.


it's still pitch black. the wind sounds hard, but i can't hear rain.

[Sonchik]

All with a new subject!

The chat is reset each morning and comments are not stored anywhere.

Not absolutely so.
If to curtail a chat and to enter anew, then messages in the last hour will be visible. If not to close a tab, then it is possible to see messages in three days (depends on the number of messages, activity of communication).
The author of broadcasting, at will can keep messages.

[Abigyl]

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2019

07:35 Good Morning and best wishes to all !!

Ame, Thanks for bringing the nest's history into new page! Great work like always

[Abigyl]

08:27 A very very windy morning

[Sonchik]

As far as I can judge, the season of 2018 was unusual to nests with cameras.
1. The young couple of the first year of nesting which beat off a ready nest.
2. Vilnis dropped out of a nest and they with Robis lived on a meadow.
3. Vilnis from subordinated became the main thing.
4. Despite hunger both baby birds survived.
5. The nest absolutely collapsed, but gradually.
6. Eagles early began to build a new nest from scratch and constructed it long before the beginning of a new season.

Let's look what will be a new season.

[sova]

Happy New Year

[Sonchik]

Paid attention to player windows. In the summer a trunk fir-tree more straight line. Or it seems to me. What can it be connected with?

[ame]

what a terrible storm!

Paid attention to player windows. In the summer a trunk ate more straight line. Or it seems to me. What can it be connected with?

hmm..? i'm not sure if i understand? "ate straight line"? do you mean that it was more vertical in the summer than now?
today the trunk will be almost horizontal many times because of the wind.
(little exaggeration)