Black Stork Nest in Karula 2022

[Sabsy]

What beautiful, well-fed children with thick necks they are

Kaia and Karl please keep it up

We would all be so happy if everything continues to be healthy and peaceful

[Swenja]

17:21 Karl II is here.
#1 greets him.



Karl II gives a snack for the chicks.
There are 3 small fish and it dosn't look like a proper feeding.

[Swenja]

#2 is showing and #3 still has to practice.

[Swenja]

18:22 The chicks ask for food. Karl II flies away.

[Anne7]

Hello everyone!

It is currently 34.5°C in the shade where I live, and this combined with high humidity makes me barely able to think, let alone to say anything meaningful.

So I'll limit myself to thank you all for your kind words, interesting comments, information, pics, videos and observations.

I took a few close-up shots of the afternoon snack that Karl II served.

The chick in the middle (Swenja, is that #1? Or am I mixing up the two bigger ones?) ate a slightly larger fish, which #3 also briefly pulled at first but couldn't conquer.


#3 ate a small fish.


At the end #3 found something tiny between #2's toes, and swallowed that too.


#2(?), on the left, had nothing

[Swenja]

18:43 #1 growls.

[Swenja]

#2(?), on the left, had nothing

Hello @Anne7
I think #2 still had food in the crop. #2 showed little food reflex in the last feeding.

[Anne7]

Yes, I agree, Swenja.
#2 was barely interested.

Before I forget to mention it:
Today, the two oldest chicks are exactly 3 weeks old.
And the youngest, who I think is managing very well, is 18 days old.

[Anne7]

Some nice PSs overboard.

#3


#2


#1

[Swenja]

19:13 Kaia is here. She is wet.

[Swenja]

19:14 feeding, there is fish.
#3 wanted the biggest fish. The fish didn't fit. #2 got the fish from #3.
#1 was the fastest eater. So quickly I couldn't see what was there.
#2 is really fed up I think.

[Swenja]

#3 ate something else, but it was moss in front of it.






Kaia goes onto the curved branch.

[Anne7]

19:14 feeding, there is fish.
#3 wanted the biggest fish. The fish didn't fit. #2 got the fish from #3.

That was bad luck for #3. He almost succeeded to swallow this fish!





But #3 couldn't get the fish down his throat and had to release it.
Better luck next time, little one!
https://up.picr.de/43836051wv.jpg

BUT, at 19:14:38 Kaia regurgitated once more, and #3 ate a nice lamprey or pond loach or whatever that long thing was.



It looks like Kaia has been fishing in deep water.

[Swenja]

20:02 Karl II is here. #3 growls.



20:03 some food. #3 was able to get hold of a nice fish.

[Swenja]

Karl II want to feed again. Takes a little longer.
Clogged crop?





The fish remained in Karl II's crop and the attempt to feed them was terminated.

[Swenja]

after feeding

[Swenja]

20:51 Karl II sings. Nothing further to see. Daydream?

[Anne7]

Many thanks for your great documentation, Swenja!

Looking at the three chicks, I have the impression that #3 starts catching up with the 2 older ones. The difference in size is not that baffling and worrisome anymore.

It’s stunning to see how fast these chicks grow.

Karl II want to feed again. Takes a little longer.
Clogged crop?
…
The fish remained in Karl II's crop and the attempt to feed them was terminated.

Perhaps Karl II caught one of those fish with spiky fins (perhaps a common perch?)*. They do not cause any problems when swallowed head first. But if they are regurgitated tail first, the spines erect, and then it becomes a difficult (and probably painful) job to get them out.

* One can read more about that subject here:
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 31#p670931
And here:
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 87#p610987

A smaller common perch:

© http://huntergathercook.typepad.com/hun ... -uk-1.html

About the common perch (Perca fluviatilis):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_perch

[Swenja]

Many thanks @Anne7 for the beautiful pictures.
#3 has also become very fast when eating and sometimes he can cleverly pull the food out from under his siblings and it's gone.

22:09 night vision turns on

[Tatiana60]

Good night to you.
№ 3 is not sleeping, he is cleaning his fur coat.
Karl II cleans the elders.
Storks wake up from time to time and ask to eat, the father does not feed them - combs them and they calm down. He wanted to go to the branch, but returned to the children.
Today it was very quiet and dark in the forest until 03:00.
Only at 3:00 did the first cuckoos and small birds sing