An Update on The Miagis

Like all of us here at Watatunga, many of you have been following the progress of a pair of Storks who nested and laid eggs for the first time here this summer. Known as Mr and Mrs Miagi, these two began nest building in May, with Mr Miagi raiding the nearby stable for straw to create a large nest beside the lake. Mrs Miagi is a bird who first arrived unexpectedly, flying in to Watatunga in 2020 before pairing up with her new mate. When she returned this spring there was an awful amount of excitement from Mr Miagi, who celebrated her return with dancing and lots of beak clapping.

In late May we were thrilled to see that three large white eggs were proudly on display in the middle of the nest, and both parents took turns in incubating and were incredibly attentive. Stork eggs usually take around 34 days to hatch, but after this period had elapsed we were disappointed to see no sign of chicks. We gave it a little more time, but sadly they did not hatch.

Reserve Manager, Jono, inspected the eggs in a process known as candling whereby a strong light is held up to the eggs to be able to peer in, a basic form of X-ray. It became apparent that one egg was infertile whilst the other two had sadly died shortly before they were due to hatch. Whilst we are unable to ascertain exactly why this happened, it would have coincided with a period of unseasonably hot weather when the parents were regularly seeking shade and may have left the eggs exposed to the heat for longer periods than they usually would.