All's well, I think

The Goshawk departing; inset confirms identity, 20.v.2016

Much more optimistic that the apparent breeding attempt continues.  Yesterday I was nearly five hours in the landslip area in the woods above the nest site, where calls can be heard, and birds flying to or from the site can sometimes be seen.  Of course, they are not always above the canopy, and if they are, they are usually moving directly and at speed; factor in the distance between observer and site, and I always count myself lucky if I pick the bird up before it vanishes into the woods or over a ridge.

It was on what seemed like the 100th binocular sweep across the wooded ridges facing me when I picked up a distant raptor.  It seemed to have risen up from the head of the valley on the far side of the ridge opposite, but perhaps more likely had only just come into range.  The bird looked good for a Goshawk: below the overall size and bulk of a Common Buzzard, wings held flat or slightly raised, moving quite fast for its size, then as it turned across the sunlight, two white plumes like jet trails either side of the tail.  It glided across the northern face of the mountain, then looped back and forth apparently quite close to the tumbled rocks - presumably alert for prey - before turning decisively, still very distant, into the top of my valley*.  It then lost height and I lost sight of it against the complex surface of the wooded slope.

Ten minutes later there were a couple of medium strength "kek-kek-kek" calls from the nest area; ten minutes after that there was suddenly a Goshawk in the air a little downslope from the nest site, already diminishing in size as it rose up the opposite valley side and into open airspace above the ridgeline (see image above).  There was a short interaction with a much smaller raptor, I think a a Sparrowhawk, that was encouraging it to keep moving away.

Three images of the departing Goshawk; middle catches a moment reacting
to a mobbing Sparrowhawk, both birds visible in right image.

And that was all the visible action.  What I saw and heard was consistent with a male coming to the nest site, I don't know whether with or without prey, and leaving on another foraging trip.  The course he (I'm assuming it was the male) took when leaving was precisely the same as the male typically took in past years.  Around an hour later there was a single wailing "weeoo" call from the nest site; perhaps he had not brought enough food?  Let's see if a few more hours today will bring more sightings.

* I was once sitting on one of the peaks of this mountain watching at close range three Sparrowhawks, believed juveniles, zooming freely around the rocks as if in an aerial dogfight, when in an instant they vanished and a Goshawk floated into view from the cold air wrapping the sheer northern face of the mountain, like Jaws emerging from the ocean depths.