Jõgeva County (new nest -2025) / Must-toonekurg 2

[marika.solo]

youtube chat info by LizNm

​​6:38 brings moss
​​I'm not sure if it is the female
​​Male is here since 03.04.2026

​​I've done a video from the first egg, the fight & the raven https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghb3TmBj-xA

​​I think there is a male in the nest right now (marika.solo: female is present whole morning - she laid the egg)
​​For me two storks were on the nest. one with a dark part on the beak, the other with an evenly colored beak.
​​Who was the third in the fight at the nest? No idea. It all happened far too quickly, and datafiles are missing.

four eggs, there has to be a mate. But I never saw them together (marika.solo: I saw in the past by one white stork female 6 eggs without mate)

this stork is with that dark beak. By her arrival was she singing like a male. Then she started nestauration
​​After the first egg, I no longer knew what I had observed.
She left behind one of the eggs that the raven had taken, without any apparent reason.

.....
Kotkaklubi member: only the female is present and has already thrown one of her laid eggs over the edge
photo (09.04) in this post: viewtopic.php?p=55698#p55698

presumably (!):
1st egg - 09:04; 2nd egg - 11.04; 3rd egg - 13.04; 4th egg - 15.04

[marika.solo]

Why does a female lay eggs without a partner?

This female is experiencing what is known as spontaneous ovulation. Even though there is no male to fertilize the eggs, her reproductive system is fully active. (Spontaneous ovulation in birds is a process where the release of an egg (ovum) from the ovary occurs without the immediate physical stimulation of copulation.)

Scientific reasons:
- Hormonal Drive: Increased daylight and good body condition stimulate the release of reproductive hormones.
- Environmental Stimuli: Occupying and preparing a nest acts as a powerful trigger for her body to start the egg-laying cycle.
- No Mating Required: In some birds, the physical act of mating is not always necessary to trigger the formation of an egg. If the hormonal levels are high enough, the body proceeds with the clutch automatically.
- Energy Loss: These eggs are infertile.

Since there is no male to share the duty of guarding the nest (incubation shifts), the female must leave the nest to forage, leaving the eggs vulnerable to predators like ravens.

This is a rare and unfortunate situation where the female's nesting instinct is so strong that it overrides the absence of a mate.The female's body is ready, but the partner is missing.
(I saw in the past one lonely white stork female who laid 6 eggs.)

[marika.solo]

youtube chat:
2:23 PM @dominiquegiavara5496​​
Que fait-elle avec l'oeuf dans le bec à tourner dans le nid ? (What is she doing with that egg in its bill while she spins around in the nest like that?)

An egg laid without a male is not fertilised (it is infertile). The female will eventually get rid of it. She already threw out the previous eggs, and one was taken by a raven.

[marika.solo]

In the morning, it was 100% the female because she laid an egg. But the stork currently in the nest behaves like a typical male.
My observations:

1/The egg is gone: The stork was seen moving the egg with its bill. The actual removal was not captured due to stream breaks, but the egg is no longer there/no longer visible.

2/ Nest repairs: The stork is rearranging branches, especially on the edges of the nest / on the nest rim.

3/ Nest defensive behaviour: The stork saw an intruder and started "singing"/calling. I also saw typical defense signs: tossing moss, snapping at twigs, and spreading tail feathers.

The stream has many interruptions, so these are just my personal thoughts and logical conclusions.

[marika.solo]

15:18:48


15:29:28


15:30:50

[marika.solo]

15:36:50


15:37:05

[marika.solo]

15:42:34


15:42:55

[marika.solo]

15:48:44


16:21:23


16:28:14

[marika.solo]

at that time, the stork wasn't working; it was standing there, observing its surroundings
17:57:10


again gaps

and the very busy stork (to me maybe not the same)
18:05:47

[marika.solo]