Nightjar. 2019

[Fleur]

7:34 Male call softly . Perhaps to the female to indicate that he is around?

[Fleur]

@ Triin, I am surprised that they can still be found. Nice for us

[Fleur]

I think I see only the two young ones....? Not sure

I think Male and one of the young ones ? I doubt...


Yes, Male with one young one. I see it on the tail.

[Fleur]

8:17 sound from.....Male ?
I thought so, but I think I imagined it.

[Triin]

I think I see only the two young ones....? Not sure

I think Male and one of the young ones ? I doubt...

Yes, Male with one young one. I see it on the tail.

Seems so... I can't find the second chick from anywhere nearby.

[Hellem]

From the chat :
Your Name Here
​another chick was carried away by something at 23:30
Your Name Here
​parent flew away, few minutes later some kind bird flew in, grabbed one chick and flew away, all in a couple of seconds
Your Name Here
​had to repeat it at x0.25 speed to figure out what happened

It may be true, I watched this moment yesterday evening, male left 23:26, at 23:30 I thought that there was feeding out of cam view but at the same time I was surprised that it took only 3 minutes for the male to come back, probably it was not feeding but kidnapping by some bird of prey

Triin, Fleur

[Marbzy]

Then there's another brush with danger at 03:10:45.

First, from 02:42:30 there's a series of calls (mostly churring, with occasional calls of a more clucking or whistling quality). At 2:44:24 an adult is seen feeding a chick (the chick is out of cam view to the right) and flying away. More whistling calls follow, then churring calls.

02:45:05 - a nightjar (NJ1) flies in right to left, turns back right and lands close behin the rightmost of the three trees in the centre of cam view.
02:45:14 - another nightjar (NJ2) arrives in from the right, lands in front of the same tree; churring calls continue.
02:46:01 - NJ1 takes off just to land a few seconds later bottom right of cam view, a couple of yards from NJ2.

These moves (and calling) continue, with no feeding to be seen, until around 02:48:44, when both NJs are most probably out of view.

They return at 03:03:05 and 03:04:30, respectively, again separated by a couple of feet. At 03:09:42 one of the NJs (the chick) adjusts its position slightly. At 03:10:23 the other NJ (the adult) flies over the chick towardz the bottom right corner of cam view. At 03:10:36 the same NJ takes off again and flies away into the background, lands right next to the furthermost of the three trees in the centre. Instantly, a mammal (a fox? a wolf?) enters from the left in the NJ's direction. The bird flies up a little and comes down again to guide the four-legged intruder further away from the chick. The furry mammal is successfully driven away from the scene in about 20 seconds.

Good news: at 03:17:37 the adult and the chick reunite. There's a brief feeding at 03:17:44.

Bad news: only one chick can be made out throughout the entire episode, which could confirm that the other chick had by then fallen prey to another nocturnal predator.

PS I'm just an amateur afficionado, some of my observations may therefore be somewhat imprecise. Someone with more ornithological/birdwatching experience might offer a more informed interpretation of the events.

[Biker]

Hello, everyone!
another possibility: the fox grabbed the eggs of the presumed new clutch and the second chick is now with the other adult Nightjar

here the scene at 23:30




Hellem, is it the scene?

Marbzy, Welcome here in the forum.

[Hellem]

Marbzy , welcome to the forum, thank you for your observations

EDIT: I scrolled back and watched the event at 3:10 with the fox , thank you very much for the hint

[yitmoth]

Your Name Here
​had to repeat it at x0.25 speed to figure out what happened

Here's a video in double slow motion, i.e. a slomo video re-recorded in slow motion, so that it's at x0.125 speed (right? ). The incident in question starts at 23:30:04.



All I can say is that I don't see what the YT commentator claims to have seen - an attack by some "third bird". At the critical moment the two chicks do seem to become alert. The one on the right (which had been facing away from the direction of whatever alerted them) flies away to the left, while the other one settles down again nearby (in the lower left corner of the frame, from our p.o.v.).

It's certainly strange that only one chick has shown up on camera since last night. And at least one apparently threatening situation has been seen here already (I haven't yet looked at the one Marbzy mentions). But I don't think this video gives any definite answer as to the whereabouts of the other chick.

PS Actually, I think it's even clearer from the clip Biker posted (without slow motion) that the chick flew away by itself.

[Hellem]

here the scene at 23:30


Hellem, is it the scene?

Yes , thank you

[Fleur]

Good that there are night watchers, or people who recorded the images.
Thank you all !!

[Hellem]

23:01 The chick is begging

[Marbzy]

23:15:58 the male's night shift begins
23:21:21 the first feeding of the night
23:29:53 a bit of head scratching from the chick
23:30:20 the chick is off, seconds after a camera adjustment, but touches down back in cam view (owing to the operator's skills) six seconds later

23:46:20 with one nightjar chick already in view, another nightjar flies into view. It's very hard to make out any detail, but the encounter does not seem to develop into a feeding... The two birds remain in place side by side, it appears. Is there another twist in this tale?

Given the lighting, most of what follows is something of a guessing game, based on the assumption (wishful thinking?) that the chicks have come together:

00:22:30-45 there are two nightjars on the ground, and another one flies into view; what follows seems to be a feeding, with only one chick obtaining food from the adult (though I am unable to see the presumed adult leaving)
00:33:50 definitely two similar-sized nightjars moving on the ground (lower right section of the frame)

Hellem, Biker and many others - thank you for your warm welcome to the forum

[Biker]

yes i think you are right: three nightjars at 0:22:35
i saw also:
one bird flying above them at 0:16:36 that looks bright.
at the top of the picture



0:16



the bright one 0:23:22 again. this time much closer to the nightjars, down right

[tonsmit]

July 3rd 2019 03:23 AM Estonian time. Still quite dark, no colours. One adult and one chick stopped resting together between the two fir trees in the left upper corner. The chick did 4-5 flying exercises in full view, not too high. After landing the parent joined him each time. After almost four minutes they ended up in the right bottom corner of the screen, and were joined by a third bird, the second parent probably. There was some quick feeding. After a few seconds they all disappeared from view to the right at 03:27 AM.

[aita]

Welcome all and thank you all.
3:26 two chicks again one was feed, other ask

[Fleur]

Thank you for the night sightings
Hello Marbzy and Ton

July 3

7:18 1 tail and 2 beaks

[Fleur]

8:59 Male and the young ones

[Hellem]

10:34 The male nightjar with his two chicks