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The weather is frequently changing: when we have sunshine it's over 20 degrees warm, and when the rain comes it drops to 14 degrees. Midsummer's Saturday brought the chicks another puddle to sit in. Przemyslaw, our friend from Poland, has sent us a picture of the chicks from more than a month ago (17 May) and one from the beginning of summer (22 June).

Photo composition by Przemyslaw.

Despite the enormous growth of Donna and Padis' chicks, they are still smaller than last year's chicks—the three chicks' average weight, beak- and wing lengths are noticeably smaller than Tony and Donna's 2007 chicks. Probably the drought and difficulties in finding food have had their influence. Part of it may be attributed to the visiting outsider (the invading Black Stork) which might have taken too much time and energy away from Padis, who had to drive it away…
Sunday evening I went to the nest and took a feather from each chick for genetic investigation. An inspection of their legs didn't show any abnormalities, and 7015's back toe ligaments were normal. The chicks' average measurements (age 40 days, compared with last year's data) are as follows:

             Weight (kg)   Wing (mm)   Beak (mm)
2007          2.28             337              97
2008          1.93             300              87

Having treats after taking measurements.