looduskalender.ee

They hunt for mice from poles too -- or at least red tailed hawks do.

A guy from the power company called my dad to ask him about the hawks on "his" poles and lines. I think he was an information guy and he thought he should KNOW the birds using power company material. My dad told him the bigger hawks on the poles were usually red tailed hawks (sometimes in winter rough legged hawks -- but they often sit lower on fences) and the little ones on the lines were usually Kestrels. Along some micey fields in my valley there ( ) are hawks on almost 1/5 of the poles.

But I have never even seen a nest.

April 19th
good morning!
i had a look here at 5.41. then there was a hawk sitting on the back branch. later at 6 it was gone. at the moment there's no-one home either.

for some reason it has been very difficult to me to learn to know birds of prey. they are so quick i guess... i have learnt to know buzzards to some extent after i started watching these cameras. maybe they are hiding in Finnish landscape where there are trees almost everywhere. afterwards i've heard their voices in nature (now that i know what a buzzard sounds like) but i don't think i've seen one properly yet...

the buzzard started morning's work, i guess. it came at 8.55, dag in the nest and called a litlle and left at 9.01 after sitting on the backbranch for a while.


then 2 minutes later it came again. this time it stayed only about 2 minutes. both times it came so quietly that i noticed it when it landed on the nest, not before, so i don't know whether it brought anything. i suppose it is bringing moss to the nest. at least there's rather a lot of moss there.

- this time i have started recording after it left... maybe this time i'll catch it on fligth.

Moving quietly may be an important part of their nesting behaviour.

yes, i think so, too. they have been distinctly quiet here at the nest. they obviously don't want to have more attention than is unavoidable. and still jays have found them!

at 9.47 the buzzard hasn't come for a third time so i missed it. and i stopped recording....
- it has become cloudy and the wind is somewhat hard, very loud at times but not all the time. the snipe goes on and on.....

the buzzard came at 10.21 and again i was too late to see it coming. it talked a little iand dug in the nest and left at 10.23


then i was prepared and the next arrival i caught!
it came at 10.27 with a little twig.




after arranging the nest stuff a little it left at 10.28.

now it seems to stay away again for a longer time... it's working so lazily that maybe the egg won't come today... but i think it is getting nearer as they have brought soft moss there.

a buzzard came to the nest at 11.35. this may have been the bigger and darker..? it left at 11.39.


now at 11.43 a buzzard came again to the nest and quickly climbed to the back branch. this one looked darker (and bigger?) than the previous. it left at 11.45. -there's a huge flock of cranes flying over...

and came again at 11.51. this one looks like more grey again. it stayed long on the back branch.


it left at 11.59.

..........
EDIT at 12.07: now it/they seem to stay away...

at about 13.08 i heard some meouwing from the sky. maybe by two buzzars were calling to each other. no-one came to the nest.

13.36 both came to the nest! and the other left quite soon and the other is now sitting on the back branch.



the first left quite soon but the other stayed on the back branch for a longer while and left at 13.42.

a buzzard visited the nest briefly at 14.27. it stayed about a minute.

..and left.

the next wanna-be egg-thief came to check the nest: a hooded crow.it was very cautious: it cawed for about 5 minutes outside the picture but very near before it gradually came closer.




finally it turned the moss in the nest bowl to see if there was something in there.


then a buzzard meowed in the forest somewhere far and the crow immediately jumped to the back branch... cawed a little and left though no-one came
..
Fireblade
now i have turn the camera off and do other things...
ps: the playlist today: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9269CFDE978B23E2

18.14 cam. time I heard a Buzzard, looked and one was in nest
18.16 it took something in the nestbowl looking like a mouse, but didn´t begin to eat, sat just looking around
18.18 it flew away also bringing the mouse/prey away too

18.52 looked again and a Buzzard was sitting at the branch to the right, called a few times , not loudly, and took of at 18.55
this one looked brighter and bigger than the other I first saw

These two buzzards will have to do hard work to protect their eggs and raise their chicks in view off all the visitors in the last days ...

Whenever I opened one of the LK-nest-cams, I couldn't find any birds so far. No eagles, no buzzards, not even a single little bird.I can find only empty nests
Only Tiit and Tiina are friendly to me

They same with me today. But there is a new cam in the osprey nest!
http://pontu.eenet.ee/player/kalakotkas.html

I do see the buzzards here now and then. But so far no sign of egg(s).

Not only today for me - so far I never saw birds. I allways take the wrong time
Thank you for the link - hope, I will have more luck tomorrow or the following days