The Story of a Nest (White Stork)
The Story of a Nest (White Stork)
Written by Sunday, 12 September 2010 00:00
| Article Index |
|---|
| The Story of a Nest (White Stork) |
| Page 2: Young Adults |
| All Pages |
We love Strophylia reserve. We visit as often as we can to enjoy the scenery and take photos. Most importantly, we are keen observers of the wildlife, migratory and endemic, that we see there either on a permanent basis or as visitors during particular seasons. During each visit there is something new for us to learn, see or explore. This spring time we were lucky. In one of our visits we noticed a newly arrived pair of storks. The pair has chosen Strophylia to nest, breed and raise their young prior to them setting off for their long migratory trip over the Mediterranean. We decided to observe them; the pair and their chicks would become our new best friends for the season.
The pair nested on a tall electricity pole situated in the middle of the village, about 500 meters from the wetland. The people in the village are very friendly and told us about the daily routine of the pair so we could make sure we visited at appropriate times. We would like to thank them for their friendliness and the useful information they gave us. Our special thanks go to one particular family who allowed us to use the roof of their house to get closer to the nest (about 10 meters away from it) so we could photograph the birds. Their hospitality and support was essential in enabling us to document the mating as well as the rearing of the storklets.
Shortly after their arrival the pair started building their nest. This was excellent news: storks have not visited or mated in the area for over ten years, we were told. Once the nest was finished the pair mated:
After a series of matings the pair laid three eggs over a period of time. We started visiting more often to try and capture the hatching of the storklets. In the meantime the parents were tending to the eggs:
We were not lucky enough to be there when the eggs hatched. Work commitments kept us away from the nest for a while. Next time we visited the storklets were 10 - 15 days old. We were told that during our absence the parents had to repair the nest once more as strong wings damaged it. Thankfully the young birds were not hurt and all three of them were well and growing. By that time the storklets had already acquired a variety of skills and knowledge. They mimicked their parents and knocked their bills together in greeting. They were clearly aware of the fact that pooing in the nest is strictly forbidden. In the meantime their parents were shielding them from the merciless sun (there are some really hot days around this time of year), feeding and playing with them.
Parents were taking turns staying with the young in the nest and going out to bring them food. In this respect the pair were quite lucky: the marshland was only a few hundred meters away and there they could find an abundance of watersnakes, frogs and other food for themselves and their young. They were initially placing the food inside the bills of the storklets but progressively, as the young birds were growing, they were leaving it inside the nest for the young birds to feed themselves. But before we go on with the development of the three adorable little fluffballs we would like to share some photos of the day to day life in the nest:
The speed with which the young birds were growing could only be compared with the speed with which they were eating the immense quantities of food which their parents provided. Day by day they were gaining in size and weight. The parents were gradually looking more and more tired. Their feathers were ruffled and dirty despite their meticulous cleaning routine. At this stage the young birds were mostly on their own in the nest.
The parents were visiting constantly during the day bringing food though one of them has taken to sleeping on a pole exactly opposite to the one on which the nest was situated. We took this to mean that the 'weaning' period has started for the young birds. Their parents were trying to get them to be independent, preparing them for the long trip which eventually would lay ahead.
During one of our visits we managed to capture the parents visiting the nest the one after the other bringing more food to their growing offspring. Their teamwork and co-ordination were exceptional:
The next set of photos shows the size that the young birds have gained in a couple of weeks. Their voracious appetite and excellent metabolism worked miracles. Compare the size and bodyshape of the storklets with this of the parent who is in the nest with them:
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|