On the two nests that are visible from the tower, at least five youngsters are dead. One is still strong enough to survive. The adult storks throw the carcasses out of the nests or eat them themselves. Perhaps many more stork boys have died due to the drought, but the exact number is difficult to find out.
“With us, the storks themselves look for their food, we do not feed them and there was very little food to be found,” says Ina the Wasch of the Zwin Natuur Park. “We have often seen the storks look for food, for example for earthworms to bring to the boy, but they were able to apply very little food.”