Goshawk nest in Riga 2020 - 2021

[Emi7]

April 21th

Activity in one hour at sunrise.

From 5:24:09 to 6:24:04

First female calls at dawn, outside the male also calls, the female plays with branches until she leaves the nest. Much outside noise somewhat far away.

There may have been a food pass to the female.

The male visits the nest with branches that he lays but does not lay on the eggs. It leaves, there is a mating (6:12:36), the male returns to leave again until the female returns and the male later. The two stay in the nest for a little while to leave soon.

The female lies on the eggs to continue incubating.

12:24:56 to 12:25:02 Sound of the female prior to a short ki -ki-ki. It is more melodious.

[Emi7]

Third egg laid on (22-4) at 15:04

If the first was put on (17-4) at 11:12, this third has been put almost 124 hours after the first.

Assuming it was regular, the second egg could have been laid on (20-4) , around 1:00 ?, not far from what we estimate.

Congratulations, CHAMPIONS !!!

[Emi7]

Dawn activity

5:24:39 to 6:28:04

Female gets up and leaves in silence.
(5:29:48) Male to the nest, female calls out, the male after a while leaves and there is mating. (5:38)
(5:51:57) Male to the nest after a long time in silence and the eggs alone in the nest, it goes a little later.
(5:58:50) Female approaches passing lower front branch until she passes to nest and lies on eggs.
(6:03) Little bird (finch) on branch. They know very well when there is no danger. The female changes position sometime.

9:00 to 9:38

Female leaves, there are crows near the solitary eggs.
(9:08) Male to nest, she ends up incubating. The female returns to the nest (9:37) and the male leaves. The female incubates again.

[Emi7]

April 23 rd


Sun rising

5:45:23 to 8:09:20

Today he started calling later, (5:45:23), he has changed position several times until he has left with a call (7:06:50).
Shortly after (7:08:50) the male enters the nest and lies down on the eggs (7:15:20). The female calls several times from the outside in length, until she returns and the change in incubation occurs.
(8:09:20)

[Emi7]

April 24th

Sun rising

5:19 to 7:31

The female changes position (5:19:15), the male calls from outside and softly answers H21 (5:34) to leave the nest (5:36:28).
Some sounds outside and the male appears (5:38:28) starting to hatch (5:41:00).

The female from the outside and at the beginning from further away makes calls as a contact with the male, it seems that she is getting closer although there is once when she rings from further away. (There could be another individual from another close couple in the distance.)

The female returns around (6:03:35) claiming her position and the male leaves, before a few "piaditas" of contact.

H44 calls from outside and approaches the nest again (6:06:40) to leave shortly (6:07:04).

The female has changed position several times, and at the end she is in the same position for a long time.

The pattern is repeated at dawn: change of incubation in what the female surely eats, grooms or stretches and rests. There is contact between them that can also be a warning or marking to other nearby goshawks.

If there was a fourth egg and it was delayed a bit, you could see the laying of it live tomorrow at sunrise or during the morning.

Greetings

[Emi7]

All these conclusions about behavior patterns at dawn are based on a series of
relatively small observations over the entire incubation period that will follow
until the chicks hatch.

They are based on Polly's entries for the days 18-19-20 / 4/2021 and mine: 21-22-23-24 / 4/2021.

In recent days we have noticed fewer matings and some delay in the female's exit from the nest on the days when eggs were laid.

[Polly]

April 25th

Hello everybody

My work vacation is over, I'm back home. It's nice to be back here.
I am happy that Emiliano had a loving eye for the nest. Thanks for that!
And that Bea has updated our first page ... wonderful! Thanks Bea!

I didn't have as much time as I had hoped to see, but on the way to our destination I saw H44 (via mobile phone) lying in the nest on the eggs. It didn't surprise me ... he was close before but I was happy!
H44 has developed rapidly. He has developed his fine instincts very firmly.

I noticed that the alarm calls have increased. Are there more intruders in the territory, or crows, or have the H's just become more sensitive?
I miss the overall situation. It was only moments but more than usual. I will surely have a better picture from tomorrow.

Today I have to put my luggage away first ... while I enjoy the nest.

Have a nice evening everyone!

[Polly]

One quick note ... better two. I forgot to mention these thoughts.
First: H44 began to sit tight on Thursday. It was clear to me that the final incubation period had now begun. So I think our H's won't lay any more eggs.
Then: Ha Emiliano, I smiled when I happened to see a change.
The females are initially very gentle in their request, but they soon become more 'urgent' in their way of sending the male away from the eggs. They pull out all the stops - from soft tones to feathers gently plucking. But the male is definitely expelled ... if necessary gently pushed, pushed.

[Polly]

20:51:04 H21 leaves the nest without calling out beforehand.
Only now does she give the signal that she is out.
20:54:47 H44 takes over. With his usual sounds he lands in the nest and warms the eggs.
20:03 He's trying to sleep.
21:08:49 H21 chirps almost directly at the nest. It cannot be seen, but it can be heard.
21:08:34 rustling at the nest .... 21:08:55 audible and visible H21 changes position in the tree.

[Polly]

21:12:02 H21 returns to the nest.
A loving change.

H21 comes again via detours. H44 moves away from the eggs ... loving soft tones
21:13:16 ... how H21 looks at her partner ...

21:13:54 H44 hesitantly and quietly leaves the nest.



A quiet night ...

[Emi7]

Hello everybody.

Welcome back Polly.

Today I have not been able to do much, at first a little and in the afternoon I stopped recording the screen while doing other things because the video was almost lost, but the program failed.


5:20 The female changes position.

5:31:11 She calls and leaves the nest as usual in the morning early, calling from outside.

5:32:25 The male comes to the nest and incubates something.

5:37:28 The female calls from afar to do it closer and closer to her, until she lands on the low branch of the tree and in the nest, her piaditas the male and incubates when the male leaves, he also calls from outside.

The female looks like she has stopped laying her eggs (enough is enough). Remember that a year ago they had not yet hatched. They have not had almost youth.

Before seeing more dates, it is striking that of all the controlled clutches that I have been able to review, it has been the one that has laid the eggs the fastest: 62 hours on average between the first and third. In other pairs there are 67, 68 and 70 days between eggs (not on average).

Greetings

[Polly]

April 26th

Good morning

05:21 H21 flies silently out of the nest.
05:24 H44 takes over. He lands on the side branch, calls out briefly and then jumps into the nest to cover the eggs.





05:59 H21 is back.
It lands in the tree (pixel area) and then jumps back into the nest.
A quick change.

[Polly]

It's raining ...
Raindrops lie like pearls on the feathers.
06:13



H21 sleeps in the shower
07:04



She looks wet.
08:04




Currently it should be 4 ° C in Riga. It stays cool today - a maximum of 7 ° C.

[Polly]

07:32:52 H 44 can be heard from a distance. H21 answers.
08:27 H44 on the approach through the undergrowth.
At first it stops at the edge of the nest, but then switches to H21.



Another quick change.

[Polly]

09:57:00 The Jay (or woodpecker?) croaks ... the sun shows its rays.
10:08 Now the chiffchaff is singing and the woodpecker is drumming .... the beautiful morning mood makes H44 feel sleepy.
He dozes.
10:08



10:09 He gets up, rolls the eggs, sorts twigs and lies back on top of the eggs.

I am fascinated by the ease with which it covers the eggs perfectly. H44 always seemed very delicate and small to me ... the plumage makes it easy.
H44 is now in no way inferior to its female.

[Polly]

10: 31H21 back.
She pushes H44 'gently' off the eggs. He complies but it's not that easy. H44 gets stuck on a branch ... over and over again but H21 is relentless. She is pushing.







10:33 H44 leaves the nest.

The tones of the two are magical ...

[Emi7]

5:17:20 to 7:33

In the period of time seen there have been two incubation changes:

The first very soon (5:21:42) with a previous call from the male almost inaudible moments before. Will it be for relief and rest or will it include food?
The two have called from outside and then the male passes to the nest and incubates. (5:25:05)

The female from outside makes frequent calls, I have counted to 14 just before entering the nest again to hatch (6:00:02). The male from outside has called less. At (7:33) the female responds to previous calls from the male.

Regarding the incubation posture, the male has not changed at all and the female has done it several times (5:17:20) and (6:52:22).

[Polly]

From 12:52 H21 onwards, he keeps blinking upwards for a few minutes.



It is possible that other birds are alerting you. Or H44 is sitting in the tree above her. It has been firmly in the nest for a long time.

13:39


14:12

[Polly]

Emiliano, thank you I think all of these timestamps are already recorded in my posts.
Maybe something hidden.

[Polly]

I think H21 is watching tits.