Black Stork nest in Portugal

[katsik]

...she was again turning the eggs.. is there the spot or is there not?

Unfortunately seems to me too that one egg is broken as a small hole

[Olga]

He returned! at 18:42

She has been without water and anything from 9:12

She was still on the nest at 19. She didn't left at once when he arrived - I was wrong!

What worries me is that she made quite strange movemens with her head and neck. It looked like 'coughing'.. fast movements that didn't like intentional (but i have been wrong!. I have no video, only a long row pics.

at 18:42 he has just landed



at 19:15.. she is just leaving



at 19:15
he walked on the nest, begins incugating, rolling eggs, knockin thw moss, moving branches etc

But after a couple of minutes she returns on the nest for few seconds and left again. And the same happened at 19:15 again! She left.. I didn't cach good pics of this.. only one



She returned to the nest for the second time at 19:25



A bit different evening seremony as earlier.. I saw only one mating today.

OMG she leaves and returns, all the time.. about five times for now! And again at 19:39, she came with branche! There she goes again! What 'hungry' and 'thursty' mother, wihtout water clock around! No way, no is she tired not at all!

seven times she has left and returned now..since he returned, with materials!

[Olga]

One if the leavings of her at 19:35, not last!



One of the returnings of her at 19:36



She has now left on the nest, I saw her there sitting, and he was standing beside the nest. But now when I look at the view, he is there rolling eggs! What a lively evening! at 19:53 about!

[Olga]

I missed the pic where he was rolling eggs. Last I saw it was the mother ( I could not take pics for a while)

She at 19:45



She sitting on eggs at 19:48



at 20:09, the last pic, she rolling eggs in almost dark. But is the male BS on the nest too, I don't know.

[Olga]

Unfortunately seems to me too that one egg is broken as a small hole

This was what I feared too! But it can be that it is only moss or some dirty. The lightning is 'poor', or how to say, the cam view is not of high quality, and it can be only some kind of bias caused by contrasts.. (I'm sure I could not explain very good what I mean..)

Hope it is not broken! I believe they would abandone the egg if it is broken - but I don't know!

[Olga]

Some egg pics from the day

at 15:17-15:18




No, I can't say. These propably does not help to solve the question.Let's hope someone from the Portuguese thread knows if the eggs are ok or not.. The pics are never so good.. I think they are ok. so...

[garina do mar]

Hi all
Thanks Renandeli for all your diaries. They are almost like I've been watching all the time :))
I'm waiting for "our" biologist to say something about the egg, but it seems that if something was wrong they would reject it and laid another one.
By the way! Today would be the day for the 4th egg!?!? It seems that they decided to have onlly 3

[asteria]

It seems that they decided to have onlly 3

It would be very good. At least all the chicks stay alive and the parents won't kill them.

[garina do mar]

It would be very good. At least all the chicks stay alive and the parents won't kill them.

Yes, you're right! It's better :)))

[Olga]

Good afternoon Yes, you're right! It's better :)))

Me too hope there will not be more than three eggs!

Many of members propably know the story from last years how Donna laid 5 eggs between the 9th and 20th Aprill 2008.

New members may be intersted in what surprisec can happen on the nest of Black Storks.

Here are some notes, shortly, and video document of the strange happenings of the beginning of the 2008's nesting of the Estonian Black storks, Donna and Papis - a quite exeptional story:

viewtopic.php?p=76#p76

Summary of the 2008 Nesting Season

.."The first egg was seen on April 9th. followed by two more at two day intervals... On Sunday April 20th, there were five eggs."

I can see that the mother BS is on the nest, incubating. From my fraps-folder I see that she has rolled eggs and rearranged the moss bed two times, at 11:51-11:56 and at12:39. He was on the nest earlier in the morning and he turned eggs at 6:48 and 7:16.

I left to town that time.

Sun is shining. There is lots of new moss on the nest!

Today I have been away from PC. I have a bit busy day..

[Olga]

He returned! at 13:05! pics later..

[Olga]

At 13:51 I saw a third Black stork standing on the balkon! Who? A loner?

[garina do mar]

At 13:51 I saw a third Black stork standing on the balkon! Who? A loner?

Could be. But there are other nests not far. So it could be a visitor?!?

And returned at 14:02. The male returned after very angry but didn't chase the other. Just went to the nest to protect her and the eggs

[Olga]

Could be. But there are other nests not far. So it could be a visitor?!?

And returned at 14:02. The male returned after very angry but didn't chase the other. Just went to the nest to protect her and the eggs

You are propably right. Nothing bad happened. I got a pic of the 'stranger' (not actually stranger, he/she lives there as this couple too ) standing there and putting him/herself sitting on the balkon!

I'll put the pic later in the evening..

[Olga]

He/she is the visitor at 14:01-14:02. The visitor took a short rest on the balkon of neighbours.



(from the moment when I saw the visitor for first time at 13:51. I didn' get pic. But just before and after visitor stood ther for some seconds i saw the Pair on the nest together.)

The Pair was nervous, I think, before this happened, at 13:05, just after he had returned on the nest. And again at 13:40 they behaved in curious way, they were standing on the nest and wathed carefully around at same time almost at same tempo...(maybe I'll add some quite touching pics later of the Pair wondering what's going on here..)

It's great that there live more Black storks nesting there in Portas de Ródão!

[Olga]

I had pictures of the visitor! I blieved first the BS was He, the father. It can't be. It is not 'green', is it. Three Black storks:

[garina do mar]

Translation of the information from the Portuguese BS biologist:

He is monitoring BS couples (around 20 couples) and found out 2 new nests of unknown couples. Most couples are still in mating parades or starting to lay the eggs. Only 6 couples including "ours" are incubating. He says that the nesting season is a bit later this year.

About the 3rd BS, he says that is normal on the phase of the female fertile period and it may happen to see 4 or even 5 BS together. Usually these individuals are males that either don't have a female or have their female already incubating try to mate outside the couple. Like this they generate further "babies". From the female point of view he says that can be advantage in obtaining genes from better males then theirs. From the couple male point of view of course it is very bad as they will breed chicks that are not theirs so they make a close guard of their pair and follow the females everywhere until the female is only incubating.

He says that there is also a possibility, less usual on BS, that another couple looking for a nest tries to occupy one that is already in use.

Concerning eggs he says that the laying seems to be complete, because there was no egg today but we need to wait more one or two days to be sure. But as the number of eggs usually is of 3 or 4 it is possible that is finished.

And as the incubation doesn't start in the begining the babies will be born with a smaller difference then the eggs.

I remember that this happened last year with Lk BS

[Olga]

garina do mar, it's very interesting what your biologists told!

I came to add some pics of the days happenings:

Something was going on abowe the couple's nest.

She was rolling eggs and he had just returned and jumped on the nest when the female saw something. She looked to the sky and opens her beak and makes sounds, supposedly. He walked out of the nest, and she stayed there, still shutting and opening the beak, and looking to the sky.
(this looked nice, a little video clip would be better..)

at 13:05:16



at 13: 05:53- Oh, did you hear. Look, look!



- Be careful!



There it goes! Let's be on the alert now!

[macdoum]

3 ...!!! BS on the nest.............

Edit TWO BS IN NEST AND NO.THREE STANDING RIGHT NEXT-TO

[Olga]

At 13:27 everything was all right again. She was incubating and he was standing and relaxing, makind clean his feathers. Then he walked on the nest, where she was waiting. There were there in the shadow in all peace mayby for ten minutes. All at once the male's beak comes out of the shadow, and he watchet to the sky, carefully. Now it was 13:40. That was not so very espcial but the couple just looked so wise and co-operative.




- Hi, how are you..it's so hot there in the sun..


What was that!