Goshawk nest in Riga 2023

[Polly]

March 28th

Hello everyone, Emiliano!

At night, when she put the camera on, she believed that the first egg had already been laid, it was the presentation with the image of last year that is with an egg in the nest.

I know that very well.

***

There's a lot going on here this morning.
07:21 do the crows fight among themselves? It looked like they were chasing each other off the branches. Anyway, I didn't see a Goshawk.


07:26 A treecreeper visits the nest tree

[Polly]

07:53 We hear both of the couple
'55 communication becomes heated but no mating

And already H44 flutters into the nest and brings a twig.
It seems to be a ritual to bring a twig after mating. Even if this was not a finished one - we still like to see the branch.






He quickly jumps into a side branch and exits the '56 tree.

Now a real pairing (#1) can be heard.

[Polly]

07:57 H21 calls
'59 to hear both

08:01 H21 urgent again
'02 pairing #2

'06 H21 calls

08:24 A curious hawfinch




08:37 Jay and Crows chatters

[Polly]

08:49 pairing #3
(It seemed as if the H's weren't there. )

10:03 The next flutters onto the visitors' gallery - a male bullfinch. He's been chirping invisibly for some time.


Then calls follow:
10:33 from H21

10:46 H44 (can also be seen fluttering in the grove)

11:27, '28 H21
'28 urgent again

'40 H21
'41 even more urgent

[Polly]

12:09 Two heated approaches but no mating
'10 H21 is calling

*grumpy
We have total power failure. It affects many houses. I look now over hotspot but very limited. Hopefully the problem will be fixed soon.

H21 sets the timer...
Shouts in '13, '15, '17

Next '18...'21 she's getting impatient.
'25 melodic


I will miss the egg. I have to go to work afterwards.

[Polly]

12:28 Both catters
Approaching/attempting to mate again but H21 seems to refuse again.

'31 Now she is ready - mating #4

13:03 The bullfinch in a lonely conversation.
All around chirping of the tits.

'07 H21 chirps too


I have to go!

[Emi7]

Hello Polly and everyone.

Nor have we heard early sounds today.
I am banding the afternoon since 5:56 p.m. (There are sounds like cutting wood in the area)
They are still in the area and with great zeal, they should lay the first egg now, but this is not how we want it. It is being a somewhat irregular rutting season, although they are on the right track.

[Polly]

Emiliano, thank you so much!

First, I must question an observation:

13:07 H21 chirps too...

I listened to the last note again - it's H44, very energetic.
I'm very torn about this stop and go this season.
But I have a feeling the couple is too.

I actually 'expected' an egg at the end of the day.
I wondered whether the couple had delayed the course of breeding by encroaching on their breeding ground. You were already well ahead a few weeks ago. And then gone.
I don't know to what extent they can control it themselves. I always think that hormones (which are essential for this process) cannot be controlled. Well, maybe it is.
Maybe they need to stimulate the reproductive process again - and it looks good.
In the meantime there are regular pairings and the couple is permanently present here, to be heard. (Which speaks against a second nest)

I remain hopeful. Even if apparently quiet afternoons like this one are frustrating. But sometimes it's the calm before the storm.

Morning?




See you tomorrow, sleep well!

[Emi7]

Hello, there must be something genetic that makes this couple like this. Another influencing factor will undoubtedly be the weather, if it is very rainy it can be delayed, the temperature is not usually an obstacle.

In any case, not everything is so rigid. A couple that I controlled and that was the one that bred the earliest (at the height of these urban areas) suddenly began to breed about ten days later in the following years. Others have differences of 3 or 4 days and it is normal (All this taken of the date on which the chicks fly or the state of the plumage that is seen in June).
They are normal, a difference of two to four days from the previous year.

It does seem that the nest has more sticks (Rudi would put them in just one day !!! ). What still shocks me the most is that very rarely have they been heard early in the day.
Let's hope that tomorrow they can give us joy.

Greetings and rest.

[Polly]

March 29th

Good morning everyone, Emiliano!

...that tomorrow they can give us joy.

I've had one pleasure.
At dawn, a small round bird hopped through the nest and gave a beautiful concert.
A Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)! Easily confused with the Chiffchaff in appearance. But in return a long-distance migrant.

edit:
I was wrong. It's a wren! Thanks @tringa
viewtopic.php?p=892502#p892502


Welcome back little man!

[Polly]

H21 is very excited today.

I'm still missing a few minutes between 8 and 9 a.m. (I watch with 2 devices with a time delay) but I start:
08:53 calls from H21

09:03 mating
'09 calls from H21
'11 she seems hot-tempered

H21 keeps calling and much...

[Polly]

Both to hear:
09:39
10:04

'34 H21

'40 crows nagging with little temper
... '44 H21 with more passion.

[tringa]

Hello!

The small bird was the Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes). The first songs after spring migration sometimes might be a little confusing, because they might not be in full length.

March 29th

Good morning everyone, Emiliano!



I've had one pleasure.
At dawn, a small round bird hopped through the nest and gave a beautiful concert.
A Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)! Easily confused with the Chiffchaff in appearance. But in return a long-distance migrant.

Welcome back little man!

[Polly]

Oh, another misstep on my part.
Nevertheless, nice to hear and interesting, which birds unite here.
Many thanks dear tringa!


The 'big ones' continue to impress with their acoustic presence.
A little shouting here..a little chattering there.
12:01 another pairing

[Polly]

12:26 pairing #3

Then energetic calls from H21 follow.
'35, '38, '39, '40
She sounds urgent.

'48 woodpecker (?) and call H21
'49 H21
Both close

I have to go to work.
Nice afternoon!

[Polly]

My husband did a good job while I couldn't see.
I saw the list and was amazed.

There was still an enormous reputation, of course mostly through H21.
Constantly many calls between 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., constant presence. H21 does not move far from the perimeter of the nest tree.

Pairings:
13:10 #4
17:51 #5
18:14 #6
18:38 #7

wow...

(I have checked it)

[Polly]

18:34 The pair begin to chirp...we see them both flying into the nest tree on the lower floor.
And what we also see - the Jay is stalking the couple.


It only flutters to a higher position for later mating and later leaves its cover entirely.

[Polly]

Very delightful and extremely encouraging was H21's redeeming visit.


She pushed twigs outwards in the nest - so, the nest bowl is finished, so to speak.




Then mating #7.

I hardly dare anymore but I think - there's something going on!




It is as if the couple begins the active phase again (repeatedly).


I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Good night to all!
Maybe just one more sleep until the first egg.

[Emi7]

Hello Polly, family, everyone.

Today I can't contribute much, I've had a trip and the recordings have failed in sound.
I heard some call at 11:00:53

We are still in normal time although we expected the laying of the first egg already in previous days. The rate of heat is high and perhaps soon everything will normalize. It is true that they started normal and it seems as if everything stopped and they started again.

Good night

[Polly]

March 30th

Good morning everyone, Emiliano!


It's for milking mice... who ordered the snow?



But still a good sign today - H21 was at the nesting tree very early.
06:40 We see them flapping up from the bottom position, chirps.


'44 calls again


Temperatures are expected to climb to 5°C. I think the snow will be gone soon.