Looduskalender

Liz01 wrote:I think, the next chick will die .. OK- I stopp watching for now...

Hagnat wrote:Liz, as far as I have seen, all three are begging and all three are being fed.

This is very good! I do not like to see, when a chick dies. I'm still not professional enough for something like that.

BTW: your picture 18.05. 19:38 is great!

I don't favour seeing birds die myself, but it illustrates how hazardous life is for birds. Two years ago we have seen the attacks by a Marsh harrier, last year it was a Mink. This year it is illness or starvation.
Not fun to see for some (or many) viewers, but it gives a lot of insight.

May 20
good morning
8:01 Feeding

14: 24 The third chick doesn't look at all well. For the past half hour it has been calling weakly and it didn't respond to the mother's attention. It sat alone between the reeds for a while. It went back to the middle of the nest, sat quietly and kept falling asleep and waking up regularly. Still calling when it put its head up.
Poor thing.

Earlier al three were outside the nest. The nest was empty.

I wonder. Two years ago the mother did a lot of fishing from the nest when the chicks were small. I haven't seen this this year. Did I just miss it or is it true?

The nest is empty at the moment. Only one chick is sitting at the left side of it, perhaps it is the youngest.

asteria wrote:The nest is empty at the moment. Only one chick is sitting at the left side of it, perhaps it is the youngest.

I just scrolled back to 15:05 all three chicks are there. They are just outside the nest between the reeds, each at a different spot, you can hardly see them.

15:57 The mother comes to the nest. Two chicks are begging, number three sits motionless. It calls now and then while one of the others is fed.

Now there are three chicks visible, one on the left side of the nest, two others on the right.

16:29:44 two chicks look up and there is a low cry from above. Some bird perhaps, don't recognise it. I heard it also some days ago. It calls several times. Hagnat?
Or is it the mother? I don't believe I have heard a Great Bittern cry before.

18:10 Number 3 crawled to the rim of the nest himself and died immediately. Strange event to watch



And then there were two ...

Presuming the chicks died in the order they were born, they lived from - to
1. May 4 - ...
2. May 5 - ...
3. May 6 - May 20
4. May 7 - May 18
5. May 8 - May 14

Marfo, I don't know what you mean and after May 14 there is no archive.

I did go back on Youtube and it was a Bittern, probably the nearby female feeling threatened, perhaps bij something flying overhead.

oh my... the third chick is dead

18:08

Brave of you to record this, Liz

Hagnat wrote:I did go back on Youtube and it was a Bittern, probably the nearby female feeling threatened, perhaps bij something flying overhead.

Thanks Hagnat. So that is what a G. Bittern cry sounds like, I guessed right. It does sound a bit like a Heron. It is a scary sound.

Let's hope these two survive. Maybe it's also the cold weather that weakens the chicks.

Marfo wrote: Thanks Hagnat. So that is what a G. Bittern cry sounds like, I guessed right. It does sound a bit like a Heron. It is a scary sound. ...

Bitterns are herons. I have made a recording of it.
http://picosong.com/Mxne
In the end other calls. Could be another Bittern flying overhead. Maybe daddy.

The young is removed. I missed the moment.

No, not removed. Only moved.

Later she (also) tried to remove it, but with no success. It seems to be stuck.

Great recording of the Bittern call, Hagnat. It is a strange sound, it's almost a growl like some sort of cat.

She struggled with the dead chick twice for a long time. Only in the beginning she once managed to lift the whole body. It must be quite heavy, it's dead weight, of course. She couldn't get a grip, her beak is not suited for a task like this.

May 21

The dead chick is still not removed.

It must be to heavy to remove. Like Kaari.