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| The Goshawk nest site in sloping Beech-Aspen woodland, northern Apennines, Piacenza Province, 16.iii.2018. The nest is prominent against the sky just right of centre (and see image below). |
Made a short visit to my usual site in the north Apennine hills between 15 and 19 March, partly to check on the house plumbing after the winter and a recent period of intense cold (temperatures down to minus 15 deg C for several days), and partly to check for signs of Goshawk activity around their traditional nest, or perhaps elsewhere in the valley. All good for the former, but sadly no evidence of Goshawk presence at all. No sightings, no calls, nothing encouraging. Ah, well, that's not quite correct: the woods in which the nest is situated have not been cut, the nest and the nest tree are still in position, and not further exposed by nearby tree fall. So that much is positive - just no signs of Goshawk!
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The Goshawk nest structure, 16.iii.2018,
high in an Aspen Populus tremula. |
I'm pretty sure that if an active potential breeding pair was present in this small valley I would at least have heard some early morning calling. Silence was in complete contrast to the noisy and exciting early interchanges between the pair last year (see post on 4 April 2017, "Mist, mud, and Goshawks nesting again!"). But bearing in mind that the early promise of last year turned again to silence in early summer, strongly suggesting failure of the breeding attempt (see post of 23 June 2017, "Despondent as breeding fails"), I was already half expecting no pair to be in residence this year.
Trying very hard to be positive, I guess it's possible that resident hawks dispersed during the recent hard weather and have not yet returned. Perhaps if one half of last year's pair is in the area he or she will find another mate; perhaps they or another pair will settle at the nest; perhaps I'll manage to locate another nest site within the wider valley system. That's three "perhaps" in one sentence. We'll see.
