Watching out for brood "troublemakers"

Want your heart to break?  It's midnight at the live video at the White Stork Information Centre in Vetschau/Spree Forest, and the mate has not returned to the nest.  Every day so far, both female and male returned before sundown, greeted each other with apparent joy and settled into brooding together for the night.  This night, the other hasn't returned, and the one in the nest is standing vigil.  Who will brood the eggs to keep them warm?  We checked back at the master site and learned some unsavory things about the way of the stork (not much different from the way of our own species):

Nearly every day the "Internet Storks" have to defend their eyrie. Storks are still returning from Africa which are searching for a place to nest, preferably one from the previous year. But the storks have also to watch out for brood 'troublemakers'. These are immature young storks which attack brooding storks and destroy clutches.

Since the start of brooding one stork warms and guards the clutch. The partners alternate in the process of brooding, which includes turning the eggs on a regular basis in order for the embryoes to develop evenly. The stork with "free time" preens his/her feathers or flies away in search of food in nearby fields and meadows. When returning to the eyrie, which is always accompanied with greeting-clatter, the storks frequently bring along nest materials. The nest receives constant attention. They particularly watch that the eggs remain dry and in soft surroundings.

Why did we allow ourselves to become attached to these fellow creatures? Now our foolish heart is aching for the one waiting anxiously for the return of the beloved. It could have nothing to do with their fellow storks.  Maybe the mate was hit by a car or something.  Who knows? Hope everything looks better in the morning.

Update:  Joy in the morning next day.

Comments

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It's easy to get attached, especially if you're watching your new friends daily. I was heartbroken to hear what sounded to me like desperate cries from one of the peregrine pair I've seen on my walk to work for the past year or so. So reminded me of the Whitman poem.

http://www.bartleby.com/142/212.html

I hope your stork story has a happy ending, too.