Goshawk Nest in Riga 2022

[Polly]

Instead of feeding, H21 leaves the nest again.
H21 brings twigs to the nest...







There is now poplar, conifer, maple and cherry laurel (?). H21 has a green thumb.

Given what H21 is bringing to the nest, H44's thin bare branch was previously a thoughtful gesture but arguably not what was expected.

[Polly]

The nest is freshly made, H21 begins to feed her bundles of joy.




Feeding 11:18 - 40
H21 brings the rest of the food out of the nest.

[Emi7]

June 10th


Hello , Polly and everyone

12:52 - 23:01 ....

The chicks with more or less a month are almost feathered and withstand the rain that has fallen several times in the afternoon, they surround the mother as if they were sheltering her and they exercise and rest in her free time. The leggings of the legs are taking on a creamy tone except in the young female who has them whiter.
When she is with a brother and you can see her claws and canes well, you can appreciate her strength with respect to them.

Feeding

19:51:44 Bring a dam H21

19:52 - 20:10
They are fed by the mother and they eat alone, as almost always in the end she eats the most difficult parts for the chickens.

H21 in nest and branches

15:16 - 18:20 , 18:24 - 19:06 , 19:15 - 19:44 , 19:51 - 20:14 , 21:57 - 22:03 , 22:13 - 23:01 ... ...

With the rain there hasn't been much feeding activity and outside there have been begging sounds and their ki-ki-ki...

The little H44 has not been seen.

Regards and good night.

[Polly]

June 11th

Good evening together, Emiliano


We have the first fledgling.


The boy started at 11:40 with vigorous wing training and kikiki.
13:04 The beginning of letting go ...flutter and onto the side branch. All siblings are fluttering on their way. Will follow soon.

13:04 H21 had flown into the nest for the second time in the meantime.
The little hedgehog put up its spikes, cloaked but stayed on the branch. Too beautiful the new freedom ....
15:07 Like a guilty teenager, the boy crawls back into the nest...quietly and unobtrusively lies down with his sleeping siblings.

[Emi7]

June 11


Hello, Polly and everyone

06:19 - 23:53

Dam - Food

8:09:09 H21 Dam
8:09 - 34
10:51:27 H21 Dam
10:52 - 11:06
11:28:38 H21 Dam ( the same ? )
12:41:27 H44 Dam
12:46 - 13:01
19:26:06 H21 Dam
19:27 - 33
19:53:52 H21 Dam
19:55 - 20:23

In ten minutes (7:50-8:00) she went in and out five times in a row with green branch , in the rest of the day she has been in the nest or branch another ten times in three of which she also carried green branches.

06:27:54 One of the chickens has already jumped onto the branch and was climbing little by little, it did it several times today along with another of the chickens that did it at 16:31:14.
Tomorrow the other one will surely do it and the female will take a few more days.

H44 has been in the nest (12:41:27 - 12:41:57 ) , left a prey and went out to another branch when one of the chicks came to leave right away. While H21, high up on the branch, gave him his request sounds without moving slightly and far from where he was, he also continued somewhat with the sound when H44 flew.
I believe that the males at this time of the year spend little time in the nest and do so as programmed for it (innate) as well as that the request sound of H21 is also innate at this time of reproduction and supposes almost the totality of the communication with the male regardless of whether she uses it to beg for food or may appear to drive the male out of the nest. I saw it the other day but today it has become clearer to me.

Regards and good night.

[Emi7]

June 12

Hello Polly and alls

4:36:45 Chickens have already woken up.
4:48:25 All three chickens have been through the branch once.

6:21:39 - 6:32:19
Feeding with a previous prey, has continued after exiting H21.

6:39:58 Enter H21 with a green branch.

[Polly]

Emiliano
And at that point there were still four Minis in the nest.


Up and down, wing training ... H97 also shows extremely powerful movements with wings and leg strength. Only she is not ready to leave the nest.



In the afternoon, a brother lost his footing on the side branch as his siblings flapped beside him.
He fell.

[Polly]

...didn't return in the evening either.






Siblings who have been left behind move closer together ... their bond is shown.
Little brother and little sister ...

[Polly]

June 13th


04:32 Three Hawklets are in the nest.


04:56 One of the male siblings can't hold on, flutters, jumps onto the branch...then up to the top of the branch.





A soft 'Gjak' is heard. I was sure I heard H44 close to his kids. It will turn out differently later.
...

No sign of the fourth hawklet.

[Polly]

07:17 The prodigal son returns home to the nest through the side door.




I always assumed that the parents would switch to 'feeding away from home' as soon as the branches started. Well, the way the little one searches the nest for morsels...appetite probably drove him back.
A little too late. H21 had fed shortly before.

[Polly]

08:28 The tail feathers seem to grow every hour...

[Polly]

Now all - temporarily hawklets are in the nest.


There will always be one thing missing. The fleas can hardly be counted or tracked.
Let's assume that the Mini-H's are already good at jumping and flapping through the woods. They are strong.
I think it's almost impossible that they could be left defenseless on the ground. They just need to be quick at spotting danger...but they have great parents here.

H21 is again meticulously tugging at the nest floor and one of her young is sticking to her with eyes and beak. Plucks at the ground and at his mom.


Cute!

[Polly]

08:33 And again, not paying attention for a moment, a flea escapes onto the upper branch, which must have started at about the height of the nest. Its tail feathers are often teased teasingly by its siblings.
Peeps down. But it's good to see later.




Meanwhile mom came back...

[Polly]

Always in and out...up and down.

And it is hardly clear who is who and where they are going. Sometimes they are two...sometimes three...rarely only four. Unless we count H21.






Did I mention the 'Gjak' before, which I've come to expect from H44.
I've been corrected here - it slips away from the little big H97!

[Polly]

14:23 H21 brings a big fodder, a pigeon I think.

Enthusiastic squeaking from the tiers and perches...begging from lower floors.
H21 looks nervous.


Enthusiasm subsides when the dwarves realize that the food is no longer handed to their beaks.
So H97 remains the only one interested in the food. However, she pulls the little bird from the edge of the nest. She digs her claws in and begins to pluck.


Like the big ones (?), H97 starts at the head. Then she goes over to the pigeon...to quickly become sluggish and listless.

[Polly]

20:33 Everyone is home on time and romps through the nest and over all the benches. This day was obviously not exhausting enough for these bundles of energy.




21:49Two are probably sleeping outside again.



Not unexpected but tough in every season. To me.
...

[Emi7]

Hello Polly and alls

In one of your videos the female has already perched at the beginning of the branch (12:34:32).

They are not yet out of danger in case of a fall.
They do not fly, they jump and in a short time they would not have the strength to fly. We have to wait even longer.

That tree is very good it has branches everywhere and also above and below. Many times before the H's enter the nest (44 and 21), we see them poke their heads out of one of the branches to the right and below. Almost certainly the chicken that disappeared must have been there.
All the brothers are getting along very well and there have been no conflicts with food.

One of the chickens from last year already had an impressive appearance in this breeding season and shows us that this species breeds in the first year if it has a hole and a partner and that the fact that maturity arrives with the third year does not seem to be entirely certain. Those H's carry 7 chickens in two years.

Greetings and hopefully everything goes in order. There is little left to fly and learn to hunt with their parents.

Goodnight

[Polly]

Those H's carry 7 chickens in two years.

Thanks to the good instincts and intuition and the H21 and H44 act well together two good seasons so far.

June 14th



Good evening everyone, and refreshing greetings (here in northern Germany 17°C) to hot Spain to Emiliano (well over 30°C) ... hang in there!



Our H's have other worries about the weather... they are being watered.
Rain Rain rain ...

At first, the nocturnal sleeping guests could not be clearly identified.
At 04:30 it was clearer.


04:49 ...definitely H21 and two minis (H97 and a brother) stayed in the nest overnight.

[Polly]

H21 finally leaves the nest despite the heavy rain, returning with empty claws.

Basically, apart from watered Hawklets and their mom, there is hardly anything to see or report.

The day begins with fasting.
06:37 (three Minis now)


07:40


11:41

[Polly]

13:24 H21 is now bringing food, a larger pigeon bird.
Her daughter shows enthusiasm, the two male Hawklets remain perched on the side branch. H97 is being fed and it is a sight that makes you smile and fascinates you at the same time ... the girl is not far away from her mother in terms of her size and yet she is still very much in need of protection.




I think it's H00...one of the most agile male Hawklets. He looks minimalist next to her.
From my feeling I credit him with a successful future.

The feeding tips, break.
Something is troubling underneath the nest. At first I assumed the noise was coming from the fourth Hawklet approaching. But it wasn't a leaping hawklet. A constant cracking and scraping...animal or human.
H21 and her Hawklets were alert but didn't move. No alarm calls from H44....they just switched to invisible. I'm not clear if it was the fourth Hawklet or something else.

H21 is still waiting for a while...even the boys on their perch don't sit down at the table.
This is how H21 14:14 takes out the food.