Info: From RRP: 5 goslings are with their parents. The 6th was rescued and is on its way to get veterinarian help as it has a bad leg.
five with the parents in the river
There is still speculation as to what happened.
In my opinion it was an unfortunate feeding. Not that the chick was killed. Not from Lucina, not from the sibling.
There was snow, cold. Lucina fed and it seemed to me that the chick would not let go of the food and Lucina accidentally moved it to the edge of the nest in one movement.
The chick stayed there...didn't come back under Lucina's protective warmth, and Lucina made no attempt to retrieve the little one either.
Later the dead chick was fed. Nature does not allow waste of resources.
However, I have to say that the bullying of the smaller sex was clearly visible from day #2. I didn't expect that we would only see one vital chick in the nest so soon. I would have expected the process to start in a week at the earliest. Therefore I do not make any video.
Stelian Bodnari summed up the events:
Let's wish that the remaining chick grows and thrives comfortably.
"Throw your heart across the river and swim after it."
Indian proverb
Sharyn Broni (Ranger SOC) wrote in the forum on Sept. 12th. Today Manaaki is 235 days old and weighed 9.2 kg at 11.30 am this morning. He had been fed by an unidentified parent behind the cam yesterday.
Nine chicks from the 33 have fledged, although that number could change at any minute in the strong winds today.
I am unable to confirm whether it was Q or DOO chick who fledged from UQ at 1345 hrs. Both have been in the area, and both were weighed this morning.
BTW: Manaaki is the heaviest chick in colony. We call him Royal Roundness Yesterday, when weighing, he stood in the basket. He probably thought it was more dignified
Plastic fragments were removed from Manaaki's nest yesterday after he had expelled a bolus.
Sadly, plastic pollution is becoming an increasing problem. Ideally, we should only be finding squid beaks like this, in the bolus that the chicks bring up in order to lose weight prior to fledging.