Black Stork Nest in Karula, 2021

[Anne7]

P.S. I've watched this video many times.

My idea of what happened (for what it’s worth ):
The youngest was a bit clumsy, almost stumbled, causing his right leg to suddenly go in the direction of #1. That leg trembled a little.
Presumably in a reflex, #1 mistook it for something edible appearing on the nest, and grabbed the leg with the same vigour with which he would pull a fish (or a snake) towards him.
When the youngest started to squeak he let go of the leg.
Afterwards, #1 was probably somewhat confused, grumpy or frustrated (because he missed an assumed meal) and bullied #3 a little.

[Swenja]

June 26

Good morning!

The camera transmission has now completely disappeared.
The reason is probably yesterday's strong thunderstorm. I don't know whether the camera transmission can return.
We are waiting for information.

[Liz01]

Good morning all
Unfortunately, most of the time, they're all away from their desks! It also took me a few days to get an answer. I hope one of Kotkaklubi notices that the camera has stopped working.

[Anne7]

Hello, everyone!

OrniTrack MORNING information

Karl II spent the night and early morning on the banks of a pond. And on the banks of a creek that flows into this pond, about 1.4 km from the nest.

Most probably he visited the nest between 07:04 and 07:09. (at both times he was in flight, respectively at a distance of 1.3 km 'towards' the nest, and at 0.8 km 'away from' the nest)
Because Karl II nowadays often stays on the nest for less than a minute, and the intervals between the registered locations are 5 minutes, it is difficult to see whether he was actually on the nest or not. (At a speed of 50 km/h he flies in one minute 0.83 km, in 2 minutes 1.66 km, and in 3 minutes 2.5 km.)

Then he flew to 3 different feeding sites: a first one at about 3 km from the nest, a second one also at about 3 km from the nest, and a third one at about 4 km from the nest.

At 09:19 we see him flying towards the nest at 49 km/h.

At 09:24 he is on the nest.

At 09:29 he is on his way to a feeding site along a brook.
The farthest location where he was looking for food along that brook was about 7 km from the nest.

Last known location: 10:34, in flight at 48 km/h, heading towards the nest.
But because he is at that moment still at a distance of 3 km from the nest, it is unclear whether he actually will go there or not.
I suspect he will, because he flies a 'usual' trajectory towards the nest. (We will see tonight.)



Hopefully the camera connection is restored quickly.

[Tatiana60]

Good morning, everyone. It's a pity that we can't see anything yet due to the lack of broadcasting...
Thank you for the data of the Karl II. Anne, as always, you are a source of information!

While the camera is not working, we can philosophize...

Video Swenja:


If this case is not self-affirmation among equals, then maybe it is a manifestation of the instincts of caring - patronage?

No. 3 came across the raised left edge of the nest next to the camera and stumbled, held on, but his leg was shaking. The elder was watching him even when he was walking in that direction, so No. 3 was punished. No. 3 thought about this and went again, but in a different direction-squeezed between relatives, but now to the far edge of the nest... He was again periodically grabbed by the leg 3 times... after that, No. 2 also received edification (or care)...

Are these actions instincts for food? (I'm getting scared... A starving old man is looking for how to eat everything movable and immovable... I'm laughing, of course... )

I prefer the theory that the eldest is an expectant mother or a very caring father who wants to keep everything under control in his nest and trains on his brothers...

I have not seen anyone grab No. 1 by the beak, clearly preventing him from acting... and the younger one is touched by both No. 1 and No. 2.

Presumably in a reflex, #1 mistook it for something edible appearing ...

Anne, how do you feel about the fact that the elder (and after this incident, as seen in the same Swenja video ) 3 times grabbed the younger by the leg when he passed by? And he at the same time touched the middle chick with his beak, which was cleaning the feathers next to him? Maybe this is his self-affirmation among his own kind? In the past years, we have noticed how very active chicks that flap their wings strongly were repeatedly stopped by their brothers (a command like "stop!").

[Anne7]

Good morning, everyone. It's a pity that we can't see anything yet due to the lack of broadcasting...
Thank you for the data of the Karl II. Anne, as always, you are a source of information!
While the camera is not working, we can philosophize...
...
If this case is not self-affirmation among equals, then maybe it is a manifestation of the instincts of caring - patronage?
...

Who knows? You may be right, Tatiana.

I think it is quite impossible to know with certainty the motivation/reasoning/reason for their actions, but of course it should not prevent us from observing what they do and thinking about it. We can try to find an explanation for their behaviour.

Although real aggression between BS siblings is rarely - if ever - observed, it is not inconceivable that dominance exists. The oldest storklet may be slightly dominant, simply because he is still the strongest (for the time being).
Is his behaviour based on a feeling of "caring/protection" or on a feeling of "self-assertion"? Who can say?

That there are certain "rules" on the nest, and that there is ‘communication’ between the storks, seems obvious to me.

I was for instance impressed when Karl II stood at the edge of the nest for minutes on end, occasionally (and softly) clattering his beak, and the chicks looked at him and waited, completely motionless and silent. After this long and weird silence, Karl II seemed to signal that they were allowed to start begging, which they did, and he fed his chicks.

[Swenja]

Hello @ Anne7 and Tatiana60
I also think that it is not clear for us to know whether there is a hierarchy among chicks.
In my opinion, the only difference between all three is the level of development.

# 1 does these things because he just can. He is a little further. We saw that when he defended against strangers.
# 2 also defended on the second encounter. # 3 wasn't really defending. # 3 tried to keep up with the elders on the second encounter.
But he didn't have perseverance.
# 3 also touches # 2 and # 1 beak with his beak. He just doesn't always get what he wants, because the two of them are faster and just stretch their necks.

# 2 often grabs # 1 by the beak when there is food. Probably because # 1 would be the fastest.
I did not notice any real sibling rivalry among these chicks. Everyone eats for themselves is not a rivalry that involves fighting.
Small fouls are not bad.

The event with # 3's leg looked more like a food reflex. So far, grabbing it with the beak has only been the case when there was food. # 1 may not even know what kind of power he has.

[Anne7]

According to AccuWeather, it is currently (16:40) a comfortable 24°C in Karula.
Partly overcast. No rain
West wind, 19 km/h

Today, the oldest storklets are 4 weeks and 1 day old. (29 days)
The younger one is 27 days old.

[Florinda]

OrniTrack MORNING information

Anne7, thank you very much for interesting information.

[Heloise]

Good evening!

Thank you all so much for the interesting and useful comments!


All I have to say is that let´s try not to lose hope that the camera will work soon ...
I hope Anne7 has the time sometimes to watch the OrniTrack data, but that should not be an obligation!

[Anne7]

Good evening, everyone

OrniTrack MORNING information

Karl II spent the night and early morning on the banks of a pond. And on the banks of a creek that flows into this pond, about 1.4 km from the nest.

Most probably he visited the nest between 07:04 and 07:09. (at both times he was in flight, respectively at a distance of 1.3 km 'towards' the nest, and at 0.8 km 'away from' the nest)
Because Karl II nowadays often stays on the nest for less than a minute, and the intervals between the registered locations are 5 minutes, it is difficult to see whether he was actually on the nest or not. (At a speed of 50 km/h he flies in one minute 0.83 km, in 2 minutes 1.66 km, and in 3 minutes 2.5 km.)

Then he flew to 3 different feeding sites: a first one at about 3 km from the nest, a second one also at about 3 km from the nest, and a third one at about 4 km from the nest.

At 09:19 we see him flying towards the nest at 49 km/h.

At 09:24 he is on the nest.

At 09:29 he is on his way to a feeding site along a brook.
The farthest location where he was looking for food along that brook was about 7 km from the nest.

Last known location: 10:34, in flight at 48 km/h, heading towards the nest.
But because he is at that moment still at a distance of 3 km from the nest, it is unclear whether he actually will go there or not.
I suspect he will, because he flies a 'usual' trajectory towards the nest. (We will see this evening.)


OrniTrack EVENING information.

The morning data stopped at 10:34.
It looked as if Karl II was flying towards the nest. Yes, he did!
Between 10:39 and 10:44 (two locations - in flight - very close to the nest) he was on the nest.

Afterwards he flew to the pond where he spent the previous night.
He was there between 10:49 and 11:49
Then he flew to another feeding site, where he stayed between 11:59 and 12:34
Then he visits another feeding site, where he stays until 13:44.
Again, he changes feeding sites. This time, he stays there between 13:49 and 14:49.

At 14:54 we see him in flight, flying towards the nest at a speed of 24 km/h.
Around 14:59 he was on the nest.
At 15:09 he returns to his last feeding place. He stays there between 15:19 and 15:54, after which he ‘follows’ the same stream until 16:29.
He flies to yet another feeding site, about 2 km from the nest, and stays there until 18:34.
Then he flies to that same pond again.

And at 18:59 he is on the nest again.

His last known location (22:34) is less than 2 km from the nest, at the edge of a forest, where he is since 20:04.


Today Karl II flew 73.5 km in total.
He has not been more than 7 km away from the nest.


Sleep well!

[Heloise]

Thank you very much, Anne7

Good night, sleep well!

[Swenja]

Thank you very much @Anne7 for the track data.
If we assume that Karl II flew to the nest every time he was around to feed, then he was at the nest 5 times today.
That would mean Karl II brought food 5 times.
Kaia usually feeds twice a day. That would be 7 possible feedings.

Of course, we cannot see when someone has fed. However, we know for sure that we can assume at least 5 feedings (ordinary average).
So there is no reason to worry about a bad feed situation.

Thanks also for the weather data. Weather good today too!

Good night!

[Anne7]

June 27th

Good morning, everyone!

Swenja, Heloise, Tatiana, Florinda, Liz

The camera is still offline.
Is there a chance it will be repaired?


OrniTrack MORNING information

Karl II spent the night at the place where we saw him yesterday evening, at the edge of a forest, less than 2 km from the nest.

At 04:05 he started his working day and flew to a feeding site, speed 43 km/h.

At 05:15 he was on the nest.

Immediately after feeding his chicks, he went fishing again.

At 10:25 he was on the nest a second time.

He has visited 2 different feeding places so far.
One at a brook about 4.5 km from the nest.
And another one at a ditch in a forest at about 6.5 km from the nest.

____________
According to AccuWeather, it is currently (12:00) 23°C in Karula. Real Feel 25°C.
Wind: N-NW 7 km/h. Mostly cloudy, chance of local rain showers.
Chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon from 17:00

____________
Today, the youngest storklet is exactly 4 weeks old.

[sova]

Hello everyone
It's a shame with the camera, let's hope it will work again quickly

...
OrniTrack MORNING information

Anne, thank you very much for your effort!
Exactly like that, thanks to all of you who report here daily and invest your time.

[Heloise]

Hello, Anne7 and everyone!

Many thanks for the track data and the weather report!
The weather is really nice now.
Tomorrow:

https://freemeteo.ee/weather/karula/hou ... ry=estonia

It is so good to know that Karl II is often in the nest.
I hope we can get the live stream back soon, we all miss our Karula family!
I imagine that then the storklets are so big that we don't even recognize them!
They are growing so fast!

Now we can only look at photos ... Some of my last photos, 25.06.2021:





I wish everyone a beautiful day.
Once again, thank you, Anne7!

EDIT: Hello sova (and I can imagine that Swenja is here somewhere too )

[Swenja]

EDIT: Hello sova (and I can imagine that Swenja is here somewhere too )

That is of course correct!
But I have no new information, so nothing to write about.
I hope the camera broadcast returns.

@Anne7 big thanks for the track data and @Heloise for the weather report

Hello @sova

I wish you all a nice day!

[Tatiana60]

Good afternoon to all present.
There is no broadcast... the chickens are growing, 2 days is a long time...

It is good that there is data from the transmitter, and we can track the movement of Charles II ... Thank you, O keepers of information!!!
Of course, there are concerns about visitors entering the nest, about possible predators ... I have concerns about Kaia ...

And there are also concerns that the old external differences between No. 1 and No. 2 are disappearing and new ones are appearing.... I hope that we will not confuse them (while these days they are growing without us)...

It would be nice to find other differences (besides the hairstyle and voice, habits, because everything changes...) for example, in the beak or the bridge of the nose...

For example: No. 1 was silent, and now he also makes noise when he asks for food... Habit # 2 is also changing : he sings less and less with his iridescent voice, like a stream ... and No 2 catches up with No. 1 in size, and if he is a boy, and No. 1 is a girl, then No. 2 can overtake No. 1 in size... and his beak can become more powerful than No. 1's...

and then how will I test my theory that No. 1 is a girl? I'm laughing...

[Swenja]

Hello @Tatiana
I thought about that too and had to smile.

I distinguish chicks by the way they do things. Each one has its own body language. External characteristics are not that important to me in this regard, because they are constantly changing. I have to see her in motion and then I know which chick it is. But I will only be able to do that for a certain period of time. If I don't see the chicks for several days, this classification becomes more difficult and I have to get used to it again. Because the chicks will also change the way they do things. Even if this change will be a little longer than the external characteristics.

But actually only one thing is really important: when the camera goes again, that we see three healthy and well-developed chicks!
The classification of the chicks in the sequence comes later. We'll all try

Nice afternoon!

[Anne7]

Sova, Heloise, Swenja and Tatiana

You’re welcome.

It is a real pity that the camera does not work.
As you say, the storklets grow very fast.
And so much can happen on the nest that we can only observe through the camera.

The OrniTrack information is of course only a stopgap measure in the meantime. It cannot replace camera observations.
Nevertheless, it is good to know how often Karl II has been on the nest. Personally, I am encouraged by the fact that in recent days he has been looking for food closer to the nest again and didn’t fly long distances.This indicates that he can find more food nearby again, now that it has become cooler and it has rained a little.

Hopefully the breakdown is repairable. If the problem is situated very close to the nest, there is no easy way to fix it, without disturbing the chicks and the parents. Let’s cross our fingers.