Mist, mud, and Goshawks nesting again!

Male Goshawk, 24.iii.2017

(for basic background information on the locality, click on the separate page tabs above: 'Location' and 'Nesting site')

The 23rd of March 2017.  For my first visit to the site since autumn 2016, I went up to one of my usual watchpoints, a high and open former landslip scar that gives a useful view over the valley woodland, including the airspace above the nest site, itself deeper in the valley centre, hidden by the slope and by the trees edging the landslip.  Calls from the nesting woods can easily be heard, and hawks in flight can sometimes be seen if above the canopy.

Sitting out in the rain on an Apennine hillside, hunched up under a not quite waterproof cape  was not exactly the scenario I'd imagined while struggling to endure  the dull cold Cambridgeshire winter.

The steep track up was difficult in parts; slippery stones and glutinous mud where a tractor had recently been labouring up to a small patch of hillside cultivation. Grey cloud off the cold Ligurian Sea streamed over the mountains to the west, grey cloud crept up the valley from the Po plains to the east, and the very air seemed made of water, misting the landscape of leafless grey-brown woods (photo left).  But the wind was gentle and the damp air was mild.  Soon an occasional relaxed ke-ke-ke call, or quiet wee-oo wail, came up from the unseen valley woods in front of me to confirm the happy fact that at least one Goshawk was present near the old nest site.

From my notes

24 March 2017. Saw high accipiter, possible Goshawk, from stream crossing ca 11.30.  12.15 heard calls around white edge area.  Ca. 13.00 k-k-k and wee-oo calls near site, then together from above and below site, ie. definitely 2 birds present.  Soon two birds calling at same time, loud and fast, "weooweeoo", probable mating; then occasional k-k-k and wee-oo calls. More sporadic over next half hour.

13.25 couple more weeoo calls, louder, apparently higher in canopy and so suggesting imminent flight, then bird up from patch above nest site; fast direct powered flight downstream, just above treetops, passed near white edge watchpoint, then around uphill toward principal ridge above C., out of sight behind higher ground.  Now 13.33.

14.25 Sparrowhawk across old landslip scar: instant impression small and fluttery, marked contrast to Goshawk just seen (adjective 'moth like' came to mind at the time but not an exact resemblance).

Goshawk, probably adult male. Not much colour visible in the dull conditions but some typical structural features can be seen. 1: head and neck prominent, 2: bill distinct, looking deep at base, 3: wing appearing relatively long, tapering hand, 4: body somewhat bulky, deep at belly. 24.iii.2017, N Apennines.

25 March 2017.  08.55 weeoo call heard near fork to white edge watchpoint. Continued uphill through scrub at base of landslip scar.  More calling with some apparent changes in bird's position.  Then 2 birds together, then bit quiet, then slight increase in frequency and volume, bird promptly up.  Circled down valley just above trees, past white edge area then across valley and back upstream along opposite slope and then lost, apparently down among trees.  10.37 high raptor over, probable Peregrine?  11.00 2 x Common Buzzard around peak at top of valley.  Occasional quiet k-k uphill from site.  11.40 Gos crossing lower valley apparently from area where earlier bird lost, Sparrowhawk following apparently encouraging Gos to keep moving, Gos gliding on as if unconcerned (very obviously larger, bigger mass of flared white undertail coverts).

Goshawk, adult male, probably same bird as above.  Note prominent white supercilium, broader posteriorly, also bulky body and distinct white undertail coverts (not flared out).  Exposure in some images emphasises contrast of wing barring although wings appear largely pale grey to white in live view. 25.iii.2017, N Apennines.

So, - wonderfully - everything looks good for another nesting attempt!  Same nest, two birds, lots of vocalisation, apparent mating, same flight movements as last year.  I don't know if the hawks are the same individuals as last year, and never will know for sure, but because they are based at the usual nesting patch it seems likely that one or both of the pair has used the nest site in previous seasons.  In some populations, breeding pairs rarely use the same nest in succeeding seasons, but may use alternative nests in the same territory (see Kenward, 2006); however, at this location the same nest seems to be used more often than not (but I cannot confirm the same birds are involved).  This has been vital in allowing me to gain a little more experience with the species, because although I have walked extensively through the hill woodland in this area I have not yet succeeded in locating another Goshawk nest site.  My guess is that there are very few nearby areas with the preferred slope, aspect, degree of disturbance, and open structure, ie. tall trees and clear flight channels.   Whatever the ecology, it really is so exciting to know that, potentially, another season of being close to Goshawks lies ahead.

I had been watching webcam images of the urban pair in Riga (Latvia) visiting their previous nest from early January, sometimes bringing twigs or rearranging those already present, and listening to mating events in March, apparently all on nearby trees, not on the nest itself (ie. off camera).  The live stream is HERE, and an active message board is HERE.  Four eggs have now been laid, between 24 March and 1st April.  One salutary lesson from this webcam has been that adult birds can be at the nest, if only briefly, or in its immediate surroundings, from mid-winter onward whereas, in my ignorance,  I had assumed from the lack of evidence at my few short winter visits that "my" nest area is usually deserted until spring.

Kenward, R. 2006. The Goshawk. T & A D Poyser, London. (reprinted 2007).
(Links referenced above were verified on 4 April 2017).