LATVIA Ogre Municipality (Vidzeme Region)

[marika.solo]

to the discussion about late nesting:

The debate on this issue was intense in the 2021 season, when a late couple formed in both Estonia (Jogeva County) and Latvia.

opininon of prof. Piotr Zieliński, black storks expert from Poland (youtube chat)
- In our conditions, the latest date of laying the first egg in the brood ending with the departure of the chicks is May 9.
- But Estonia is on the edge of its range. More difficult conditions.
- Besides, it is about the experience of birds.

Professor Maris Strazds' (Latvia) - (https://www.facebook.com/DzivibasLidoju ... 9372773289 )
"Hello! Yesterday, some followers of the Stork Camera (in the YouTube chat) were already rejoicing that "soon there will be eggs", but I would suggest to "pray to the highest powers" that this does not happen. There are several reasons. The earliest date when the first egg could be laid (according to what we know so far) is 9 or 10 May. Eggs take 32+ days to hatch, chicks approximately 90 days to leave the nest, let's assume 88 for ease of counting. So 120 days from the 1st egg, or converted September 10, until the expected departure date. This IS still possible, and there have been cases, although it is not known how successful they have been. Mare, who was also a late hatchling, hatched on 2 June (so the egg she hatched from could have been laid on 1 May or a day earlier) and she departed from the nest at 77 days on 17 August. She was successful.
But there are a few other considerations. The female that was in the nest yesterday is a young bird (95% certainty) by her plumage - one could say a juvenile, in her 3rd calendar year, or a full two years old. There are known nesting attempts at this age (one also in Latvia), but the Latvian case was not successful. Mare started nesting a year later, which is the normal "starting age". Even if the bird is biologically capable of laying an egg, she is certainly inexperienced in every respect and - judging by the biographies of the tracked birds - has arrived in her breeding territory for the first time. She is not familiar with it and does not know that the ditches that are now filled with water, which are apparently good feeding grounds, and which are very numerous (more than 100 km of ditches within a 3 km radius around the nest), will all be dry in a month or a little later, when food will be needed most.
If there are eggs, if they hatch and no predators interfere, then the most likely scenario in this nest is that the chicks will starve to death as the parents will stop feeding them because of lack of food. Get used to the idea. Some might argue that 3 and 4 young birds have been reared in the same nest before. Yes, that is true, but that was BEFORE all the surrounding ditches had been cleaned as part of "sustainable and responsible forestry". Forestry is accountable at the best to the money-lending banks and to its own income, but not to the forest or to what lives in it. Do you think you can change that? Then start a campaign for the drainage system cleaners, in order to explain them their responsibility (towards this nest), to install at least 4 feeding places around the nest (each bird has its own feeding areas, which hardly overlap, and "one for each" is a too risky situation), which must have water and at least 1kg of live small fish every day. Already now.
Maris Strazds 5 May 2021"

[marika.solo]

the nest seems to by dry
if female will arriving to this nest (or visited already this area) ...

- Storks, especially females, map food sources in the surrounding area after arrival - and the number of eggs depends on this (however, the situation can change dramatically over time).
- There are opinions that based on this assessment, storks may not nest, skip the season and may not return to the nest (or only irregularly - males tend to control their territory and therefore the nest).
(Dr. Strazds)

If there is indeed a drought in the area, then this scenario is very likely. Time will tell.

[marika.solo]

April 22
Hello everyone

no documentation in dabasdati forum

17.58 Ogris in
(btw. he sneezes very often also the previous days - dust?, all seems to be dry )

18.02 Ogris out
18.03 he is back calling a lot and he moves the nest material
18.05 Ogris flies away

[marika.solo]

- 20.19.32 stork landed silently on the nest


- it is Ogris with the black feathers and full crop

[marika.solo]

April 22
Hello everyone

23.04 dabasdati forum https://forums.dabasdati.lv/viewtopic.p ... 52#p420452

- around noon Ogris was very excited (as we know him from previous seasons) - he sang with beautifully spread white feathers, moved the material, flew out and back again ...
- everything indicated that a female was nearby - unfortunately no one flew to the nest

- Ogris returned to his nest for the evening

[marika.solo]

[marika.solo]

[marika.solo]

April 24

Ogris is stil alone

dabasdati forum: https://forums.dabasdati.lv/viewtopic.p ... 55#p420555

April 25

same situation

dabasdati: nothing

April 26

unfortunately nothing new

dabasdati forum: https://forums.dabasdati.lv/viewtopic.p ... 77#p420877

[marika.solo]

April 27
dabasdati forum: https://forums.dabasdati.lv/viewtopic.p ... 95#p420995

Ogris is still alone and the time is running out
(if Urga perished - most probably - I am very, very sorry for this brave female )

April 28
dabasdati forum: https://forums.dabasdati.lv/viewtopic.p ... 44#p421144

April 29
dabasdati forum: NO reporting

[marika.solo]

April 30

handsome and lonely Ogris


Ogris every day is spending the night on his nest till now (I check every day this nest too)