Black Stork Nest In Karula 2023.

[Sabsy]

Yay...
what a beautiful stork child and the second one is coming soon...
Thanks to everyone for the great reporting.
♥ Congratulations to Kaia and Karl and to all aunts and uncles.
You see how perfect the little one is...
he's already looking at the world full of energy, he's precocious, isn't he?
It's always a miracle ♥

[asteria]

Today is Sirli's name day in Estonia.

[Swenja]

11:05 Karl II stands up and does ps. He rolls an egg. The chick asks for food.




11:06 He gives small pieces of food.
It was not easy for the chick to find the pieces of food.
Karl II takes back the small pieces. He covers the chick and the eggs.

[Nala]

Again it's a miracle, the first little one, great! Karl ll has already provided it well with nutrition. On to the second little one.

[Anne7]

11:05 Karl II stands up and does ps. He rolls an egg. The chick asks for food.

I'll prepare a few extra pics.




What are you doing, Dad?


Do you have some food for me?

[Anne7]

11:06 He gives small pieces of food.
It was not easy for the chick to find the pieces of food.
Karl II takes back the small pieces. He covers the chick and the eggs.

Some extra pics "soon"
But you know that I'm slow.


I could not see what Karl II regurgitated.

The chick is strong and strong-willed.



Could it be that it was this undefined little thing stuck to his leg that he had swallowed a few minutes earlier?

[tsang6482]

There's something I find very miraculous when I see the birth of the first chick in every nest.

Now, given that chicks generally don't need to be fed in the first 24 hours after hatching, the first chick seems to be eager to eat, digging into the first meal already a few hours after completely coming out of the egg.

Does the chick's (or chicks') chirping automatically trigger the parent's feeding mechanism, or does it require other behaviours (eg: tapping the parent's beak, like other birds) in order to get the parent to feed? I've seen repeated chirping from BS chicks that didn't result in feedings.

[Swenja]

Karl II stands up, ps and the chick asks for food. It is a very strong chick.

Karl II gives food and the chick tries to tear off a few pieces.
He watches closely what the chick does.





12:13 Karl II gives some food porridge.



Karl II takes back the other pieces.

[Swenja]

12:16 Karl II hooks onto the big fish.





But the big fish is too tough. He leaves the fish on the edge.

[Swenja]

Kaia will try to find her food specialities to have small food for the chicks.

I really hope that she will be able to collect these specialities from the mud and wet meadows in a shorter time.
We don't know if the drought has greatly reduced the supply of this forage.

[Swenja]

12:43 Karl II does ps.
He gives a lump of food and the chick takes some away.



The chick bites into its sibling's egg.



The pieces of food are too coarse for the little one. But it has tasted some of it.

[Anne7]

…
Does the chick's (or chicks') chirping automatically trigger the parent's feeding mechanism, or does it require other behaviours (eg: tapping the parent's beak, like other birds) in order to get the parent to feed? I've seen repeated chirping from BS chicks that didn't result in feedings.

tsang6482

The chicks' begging triggers the parents to regurgitate food.
Of course, if the parents' crop is empty, or if they struggle to "get the food up", the chicks may not be fed.

[Anne7]

Kaia will try to find her food specialities to have small food for the chicks.

I really hope that she will be able to collect these specialities from the mud and feut meadows in a shorter time.
We don't know if the drought has greatly reduced the supply of this forage.

I hope the same, Swenja

Usually, newly-hatched chicks get small lampreys, tadpoles, etc.
Hopefully these are still easy to find.

Fingers crossed.

Feeding the chicks with larger fish will probably also work (if the parents find them!), but it takes hours to pre-digest those fish in the crop so that they become soft enough to fall apart or to pull out small pieces.


Edit
PLEASE let's all support the volunteers who fill the fish baskets!

The Kotkaklubi donations account:

KOTKAKLUBI
IBAN: EE182200221040359778
BIC: HABAEE2X

Swedbank AS, 8 Liivalaia Street,15040 Tallinn, Estonia

If you wish, you can specify in the reference what you are donating for:
e.g. "volunteer black stork feeders"

[Swenja]

13:17 Kaia is back! Karl II flies away after short greeting.





The big fish is in front of her. She examines the hole in the second egg.
The egg spins and we see the hole break open. It's already a lot bigger.



She covers the chick and the eggs.

[Anne7]

13:17 Kaia is back!

Is the big fish on the nest a pike?
Maybe found dead and not really edible anymore?
It looks dry and almost “mummified”.






Kaia hasn't eaten a lot? Small PS.

[Swenja]

She stands up again and examines the big fish.
It's a tough fish, she realises, and now she wants to feed the chick.

Kaia has brought smaller food. The chick takes some of it.






Kaia collects everything edible in the nest that Karl II has left.

[Swenja]

Kaia feeds again.

[Swenja]

The chick spat out much of the food.
But it also ate something.



The second egg is making progress.

[Anne7]

The second egg is making progress.

Yes, that's a pretty big hole already.
Maybe number 2 will also hatch later in the day/night.
That would be quite an achievement considering the egg was laid three days later.





Mum, I want to eat!



And I think I already hear the third egg too.

[Swenja]

Maybe number 2 will also hatch later in the day/night.

If #1 continues to pick at the hole so diligently, then #2 is more likely to hatch in earlier time.