Karula National Park (Karl II and Kaia)

[Madli]

06.28 KAIA. The greeting is almost silent..Karl leaves immediately.
Karl's nest duty was 11 h 43 min.


Kaia's feet are muddy and her belly is wet.

06.32 FEEDING (1) Kaia regurgitates a few frogs, older chick eats them. Others are sleeping and not active..then more grogs follow and second older sibling eats too. #3 isn't active during this feeding, it doesn't get anything.

[Madli]

08.21 FEEDING (2) more frogs, #1 and #3 eat.


09.26 Older sibling grabs #3's wing and pulls it


09.28 KARL arrives. Kaia greets him and continues to preen the chicks. Only a minute later, she leaves.
Kaia's nest duty was 3 h 0 min.

[Madli]

The chicks are not very hungry yet, they continue sleeping, instead of begging for food. Karl steps to them, looks at them, then wakes them up for a feeding.

09.37 FEEDING (3) Lots of different sized fish. #3 eats several bigger fish! #1 and #3 also take a few fish, but in general they are not hungry, they are more pecking the fish slowly rather than quickly swallowing them.


A Jay is calling nearby.

[Madli]

That little leg stretch


And the chicks are successfully walking on their knees. Their legs are growing very long already.

[Madli]

12.04 FEEDING (4) Karl offers some leftover fish. One of the older sibling eats a few fish. The other is not interested in food . #3 tries to swallow a fish several times- it's hard to rotate it in the mouth and he drops it. But eventually manages to eat it. #3 also finds something smaller.

[Madli]

Hello there !

[Madli]

12.25 Karl arranges some moss, the youngsters try too

[Madli]

13.23 KAIA. Karl flies immediately out.
Karl's nest duty was 3 h 55 min.

[Madli]

13.26 FEEDING (5) more frogs from Kaia. #1 and #2 eat. #3 is full from the last feeding and isn't interested in food.


14.28 FEEDING (6) More big frogs. #1 and #2 eat. #3 is badly positioned- the egg is in the way. And #3 can't manage to get a big bite..maybe it pecks something small, can't see very well..

[marika.solo]

... #3 is badly positioned- the egg is in the way....

Hi Madli,
when observing nests, I often get the impression that the egg(s) is an obstacle on the way to the food for the youngest chick

after a week, their growth will start, so we will see how the youngest will do here - finger crossed!