Nesting birds         

Wild birds - Bringing their young ones out to this world in an hostile environment

Nesting series -  

Crested Goshawk - There is always a pair in Rimba which I first sighted in 2002. I am not sure whether they are the same pair of birds that I have been meeting up with all these years. Beside my sightings of the individual adults, a couple of instances, news of the presence of young Goshawk's fledgling in the park had led birders here. Thus many came to know of existence of this park.

 Rimba is one wooded sanctuary in the built-up fringes of Petaling Jaya. Convenient plot of resting areas for small birds and huge raptors. Visitors to the park hardly notice the small birds but large birds perching among the tall trees were immediately recognized as "Eagles". To birders, these raptors are unlikely to be Eagles but more often Goshawks and perhaps Buzzards. Just to cite an example, the Brahminy Kites, also a large bird are residents.

 A causal rule of the thumb, I would say that Crested Goshawk tops the list as the most sighted raptor while Brahminy as I know perched elsewhere. In some months of the year, Goshawks were consistently seen while some period were not around the park? I made a few postings on the net about the activities of Goshawk in Rimba. So is this page - my way of recording activities by Goshawk in Rimba.

September 26th, 2008

Yes, there were times during the year I don't see Goshawk in Rimba. No specific record kept by me so far as to when they were not active.

 The page is prompted by one notable incident - September 2008. That was the time a pair of Goshawks worked jointly in building nest. The bird was always seen as a solitary hunter but now, seeing a pair triggered of my intuition that was signs of mating.

In that period, I counted that there were a total  3 nests in the compound of the park. I could not comprehend why these Goshawks visited all the 3 nests but I noted they specifically worked on one. Details of the 3 nests - starting with the first one - this is the oldest nest. This old nest was on the tallest tree where 2 previous nesting successfully brought out fledglings. The second one, a previously unknown nest - also mounted fairly high among the coniferous tree opposite the golf course. Then lastly the third - another new nest on a lower branch of a tree beside an open field. At half the height of the other two. Below is the view of this new nest.

Weeks after weeks, Tan and myself could see the raptors physically breaking away dried twigs off from branches and then bringing them back to this 3rd new nest. I waited. In these seemingly endless days of gathering, no fresh happening other than gathering and piling up twigs. I was hoping the gathering would end soon and the next cycle of activities would commence. Full of zest, I reported this impending hatching in the Multiply site that Raptors are nesting once more. Days passed - Collecting, piling and no sign of them returning to the nest to roost or lay eggs.

  Weeks passed I had nothing tangible to continue the story. Seemed like weeks but actually after 2 weeks of close monitoring, my enthusiasms just slowly fade away. Pity that I got my respondents excited and then no more story to follow through. I hate that  my will to stay with the birds had to fizzle out so soon? Especially when I just got started.

February 8th, 2009 - Sunday

From September, 2008 till this day, 5 months had passed.

During these months in the usual style we would see the birds in the park. But Goshawk are sedentary, giving me no clue as what was happening in their life.

Our lack of perseverance and the nature of the bird, we gave up hope that it would be long time more before we see action. This day, a surprise. One bird was finally seen sitting on the nest. A scene that Tan and myself waited for. So, would it laying eggs or incubating?

 With our low key effort and not having noted the subtle movement made in the nest for a long time, the sudden sighting of a bird inside sitting quietly on the nest. Recalling the length of time since building - the scene then? This could even be the chick attaining a stage of fledging. Taking the worse scenario, after a lapse of 5 months, we stayed with that presumption of the motionless bird - it must be the young chick.

A couple of days of watching, slowly we looked at the well grown feathers and manner of the bird's motion. It was not that of the chicks but the female adult.

This picture [above] confirms that it was the adult. The behavior of spending long time without shifting could only mean that he was hatching the egg or eggs. We could not tell. The female was always nearby, selecting a well concealed branch where she would perched in waiting like us

This second picture shows the bird taking a rest. The same routine of the bird repeated over days, time had confirmed that the birds finally had mated and bringing out the next brood of chicks. I had no knowledge of how long would be the incubation period for the Goshawk. Judging from its size of the bird and with some cross references on the internet, I would use a time frame of 21-28 days.

By calculation, that should place the time for hatching to be some where at the end of February.

Boring birds they were, we were kept waiting and staring. The mate would take covers peeping at me and keeping me guessing etc. This ritual of keeping them company and the lack of happening in the nest was taxing. That lousy feeling within myself of taking it easy happened one more time, I cease making the daily efforts to check on the birds.

Once off the priority list, the urge to return to the park to check on progress vanished. End of February came and I had not posted any reminder for myself to reactivate my daily watch. It happened so quickly and not until Tan called on Sunday, March 1st.

March 2nd - Monday - ? + Day 1

 The next morning I wasted no time and eager to follow through. Yes, I was there and there was no more bird in the nest. Both Goshawks were no longer in the nest and not seen on nearby trees.

Without the birds I could study the nest for clues. Set my camera focused on the area of the nest for movement or unfamiliar details. Only through the picture, we could see details besides twigs. Barely visible is the very first picture of the chick All that can be said the chick were with traces of downs on its forehead. Spots on it breast, but could not ascertain whether these on the breast were downs or feathers As the chick stayed low, with a pair of binoculars, it not easy to spot the tiny details within the nest. The chick stayed absolutely still inside the nest.

This was my first time watching the nest with a chick. Normal to expect some attention from the parent on this tender offspring.  I waited. There was no sight of the guardians appearing or guarding the nest, so no feeding as well. We had no clue as to where the parent were. The fact for the day, we were overjoyed to note that there was a chick sighted after such a long waiting period.

March 3rd - Tuesday - [5] +Day 2

I was being naive in believing the day before that the chick was too young to stand up nor immature to change its resting position around the nest.

That was the deduction formed after seeing that bit of down seen on the forehead the previous day. Looking at the chick this day, those tiny details seen the day before were misleading. The chick stood up and it was obviously large. It must have grown at an amazing rate. Spots and barring were seen across the breast. Judging from its size, the chick could be at least 5 days old. Now having the appearance of progressing towards fledging

In the meantime, hidden away among the foliage, the parent sighted and was keeping a watchful eye on the nest

So was a Black Hornbill mooching around the area. I don't believe that the Hornbill was stalking the chick in the nest. By co-incident  a fruiting fig tree was together in the clump of trees where the nesting tree was another.

But this morning, plenty of time was spent witnessing the mother Goshawk driving away the Hornbill from the trees beside the nest. Unfortunately, it all happened that fast I could not get any of the classic shots.

March 4th - Wednesday - [5] + Day 3

From the sighting of teh day before, I was at the nest again this morning. Moaning with my lack of good prompter that allowed the days of hatching to slip away unnoticed. And resulting in the chick having grown fairly large and that I missed many earlier days

This day, I managed to get the mother and the chick together for comparison. In fact, beyond my expectation, the tender chick with encouragement from the mother had got cleared of the nest proper.   It remained confidently on the bough outside the nest. This picture right - Side by side with the mother, for comparison of size.

The size of the chick and extend it had developed speaks for itself. As I am not familiar with the growth rate of Goshawk chick, but looking at the maturity of the chick, I used a rough estimate of 8 days.

This also the first time I was getting a good view of teh chick and still in shock that the chick was comparatively large. It was also my ignorance and not aware that the Goshawk's mother did spend time inside the nest as well.

So there were several occasions, the parent not in sight but a lone bird stood in the nest. As I know that the chick was not ready to leave the nest yet, and putting 2 & 2 together, I assumed that the chick was standing in the nest. I took picture of this bird in the nest only to alarm myself that the chick feathers were that well formed.

For example a simple test here, without reading forward, could you tell whether this is the adult or chick?

Imagine a lone bird - I was watching for hours.

And off it goes! I was doubtful! With the flying off - that confirms the bird shown above was the mother. Why was she doing that? Staying in the nest and keeping a watchful eye of larger birds, like Crows coming close  to the nest? I made special emphasis here, as there were times that the chick remained low, out of sight while the mother adopted the standing stance of the chick inside the nest.

The Hornbill lured by the presence of a fig trees strayed to trees near the nest, as I observed the day before. At first I thought were seeds that supported its daily diet. Yes, a fig tree. [ 5 weeks later, I identified a fig tree with minute fruits]

March 5th - Thursday - [5] + Day 4

Traveled to Ipoh for a day to get some pictures made with the controversial and historical democracy tree. So, I miss a day, not keeping a watch on the nest.

f	March 6th - Friday - [5] + Day 5 Not much changes in the appearance of the chicks nor its routine. In fact, the chick would remain in a particular position for long time before moving on to the next stance. But this day, I could see that chicks had started some simple exercises.

 Again I could not see the parent, who must be nearby, nor the Hornbill this day.

March 7th, 2009 - Saturday - [5] + Day 6

K.G. Tan called me on Friday's night as he was in the Rimba. He enquired on the where about of the Oriole's nest. I sensed irregularities in his tone and suspected his urgency of locating the nest. Recalling all my experiences of dealing with him, I could understand his desire to poach the nest. I abstained from going to the park. I could miss one day of watching, just to avoid running into him. 

March 8th, 2009 - Sunday - [5] + Day 7

This day, I spent some time watching the nest. There was one bird, standing not inside but a small branch just over the nest.

Just like the confusion I suffered the previously, I could not make out whether it was a parent or the chick. Then later back home with larger image on the computer, I could confirmed it was the mother. This also mean the chick was hidden and I caught the trend of mother guarding the nest & chick.

The mother perch was steady, unaltered for a long time. Later the male flew to a nearby tree, made  a series of loud calls before flying off. It was almost noon, looks like he gave a signal that he was leaving for lunch.

I returned in the evening and this time saw the chick inside the nest. A fellow walker in the park related to me that he saw the chick being fed earlier. It was a long session of 40 minutes where the meat was carefully shredded and fed to the chicks. 

For this day, I have seen nothing new  to write about. But with careful analysis on the unseen details of my watch and on hindsight, I suspect that on both days, I actually caught the mother bringing food to the nest. Hidden from sight, the chick was busy tearing the meat. The mother stood watch, another reason why I could not catch any scene of feeding.

March 9th, 2009 - Monday - [5] + Day 8

I went down to Sekinchang for my birding trip. No report of progress made about  the fledging

March 10th, 2009 - Tuesday - [5] + Day 9

Early in the morning I went to check on the chick. The chick was more active, moving from one stance to another, preening its feathers. Though more activities to satisfy my needs, I was disappointed as it stayed in each position for a long time. There were instances  like almost close to the hour before it shifted. It was tidying up its feather around the breast and using the legs to remove traces of downs on the forehead.

Why am I stressing so much on wing exercises? In my mind this is a pre-flight requisition, intensity in this activity  would be the good gauge for the time of  fledging. For this chick and the little it had done so far, looked as if it was not aiming to do that in the next few days.

March 11th, 2009 - Wednesday - Day [5] + 10

By now, I could make out the gradual transformation of the chick feathers and signs that it was well on its way to fledging. For example, in this day's pictures, there was yet another form of development. Recorded that chick was systematically disengaging its dependence on the nest for protection and rest.

Slowly It moved some distances away from the nest. That was the first observation. Next, to another branch. With the chick out in the open, I could examine the chick in better details. For example, most wing feathers were nicely formed.

If I would confirm that the wings appeared ready, why then the basic exercises involving the strengthening of wings not activated. This anxious bird watcher, me, was beginning to impose practices I have seen happening with other birds, on the raptor.

f	Again and again, I was mentally pushing for wing exercises. So activities of strengthening the wings that I expected and not happening yet! Nor were there any action of the parent urging the chicks to carry out essential pre-flight exercise. Not happening the day before and not this day either.

After so many days of watching, another scene that I wanted to meet up up with - I have yet to see the parent feeding the chicks. The 2 most critical processes in fledging not seen by me nor captured on pictures.

Motionless chick and I looking forward anxiously. Each bird may have its method of bringing up their young, I will have to be patience to wait and see how this one will turn out.

 

The chick had left the comfort of the nest and staying on branches outside the nest. The parent perched rather close to the nest.  Again by the bird's own choice, this time  in open view. Noticed that in the past few days, very little mention made on the sightings of the parent.

Could this be one of the answers as to the way how the Goshawk cajoled its young ones to gain independence?

March 12th, 2009 - Thursday - Day [5] + 11

Any day now, the chick was well on its way to fledging. The 2 selected pictures depicts the chick as pale in color. Very clear distinction with the parent who were having darker shades.

The pictures on the left - The chick continued to stay outside the nest. Its preoccupation was attending to its feathers on the breast. This morning some time devoted to the secondary feathers on the wing.

The pictures on the right - One of the rare instances, the chick stretched its left wing. So far, I have seen only the left wing being manipulated.

March 13th, 2009 - Friday - Day [5] + 12

Another anxious day passed, would the fledgling ready for flight and leaving the nest any time then.

f	At times, he just stood inside the nest. Sure enough, the chick was never seen inside the nest by me.

March 14th, 2009 - Saturday - Day [5] + 13 - Fledged

This was the day when the Brunfields Company had their family day at the field which inevitably causing the park to be filled with visitors. The large crowd, I still had to utilize my trip to the park for my target. I opted to spend the initial time trying to get pictures of the Oriole for the day. Reason, it was a small nest and very far away. Passer-by would have no clue as to my target. While the Goshawk, the bird and nest was near and large. Following my line of vision would guide them to the object.

By late morning and I was quite sure that inquisitive eyes were no longer interested in me, I was free to check the Goshawk.

 I was shocked. The chick was no longer at the nest or the surrounding tree. As usual, no chick meant that the parent too not sighted. The day before I was very sure that there was inadequate indication of flight readiness. I immediately liaise with Tan on its disappearance of the chick. He visited the nest in the afternoon and I have here his report.

"The Goshawk chick was on the next tree, the smaller third tree which is full of creepers. One  of the parents was there. Before I came back, it already jumped to a branch  about a meter above its nest. It was still very clumsy. The Black Hornbill was still a round it had an encounter with the one of the Goshawks. The Hornbill was really a big bully, it chased the Goshawk away . The last time I saw it chasing crows away as well."

Looks like  after days of hard work, I missed the critical moment when the chick left the nest and the tree. The chick could not fly but could glided beautifully. The day before I saw it shifting from the nest to a nearby branch gliding a distance of 8 feet.

Can I then conclude that Goshawk fledged without being able to fly???

March 15th, 2009 - Sunday - 1 day after leaving nest

This Sunday, dissatisfied with my inability to locate a non-flying fledgling, I checked on all the trees for traces of the missing candidate. Again this morning I failed. The parents, 2 large birds, they too could not be seen. It was only in days to come I settled on a new reasoning as to their where about. The birds, both the parents and particularly the non-flying fledgling were still there in the Park and very near the place of the nest. Goshawk has the unique skill in concealing their presence.

The closing stage was a damper for me and this mood ended my days of watching. I was just getting the hang and learning about the model used - how Goshawk chick was brought to fledging by the parents.

Just doing my arithmetic and calculating. In a short period of approximately 17 days, the hatched chick was nurtured into a fair size bird and able to leave the nest. The gestation period as compared to 15 days needed by the smaller Woodpecker. The Oriole chicks also took 12 days from the day first sighted to fledging. The numbers looked logical.

March 20th, 2009 - Friday - 6 days after leaving nest

 Almost a week now that the Goshawk chick was "lost", Tan wrote,

I just came back from the park! The Goshawk chick was feeding on the nest for about half an hour, then flew a beautiful glide to a branch a few trees away.

After reading that note and not having seen the Goshawk - adult and chick for days, my mind took me back to the time I was watching the fledging of Little Heron.

 A similar but interesting puzzle I would asked. What is fledging? Which cut off point do we take when considering the chick had fledged? For the Goshawk, I took leaving the nesting tree for the first time as the cut off point.

Equally pertinent here for the Goshawk, the chick have left the nest. Flew away to another tree and then return to the nest area for feeding. Has the Goshawk fledged? Yes!

March 22nd, 2009 - Sunday - Day 21 - 8 days after leaving nest.

Fellow birders like Makus and Tan who visited the park in this period, they had seen the other aspects of the fledging that I missed. After the chick having left the nest, I could not locate both the parent and the chick ever since. The 2 birders on the contrary spotted the chick and the mother. They had the impression that the mother continued to bring food for the chick as it  was too young to hunt. They even saw the food was carefully shredded and consumed over a period of 20 minutes.

Makus too had good fortune in getting excellent pictures too. He has kindly consented me using the 2 pictures above. These are the type of scene that I was aiming for. Here and at last the chick was caught on pictures, performing his task of strengthening his wings.

This is the answer I was looking for! When do the fledgling starts their preflight training? So based on my own write up, the first step was for the fledgling to gain independence when they can hop and glide. They would leave the nest and defend itself in a normal habitat. The second step would be learning how to hide themselves from view. It was also during this time they pick up their skills of flight.

March 24th, 2009 - Tuesday 10 days after leaving nest

As if the Goshawk heard my complaints, this Tuesday morning the chick suddenly showed itself too.

Perhaps this should be my last shot of the fledgling. It was so difficult for me to maintain a free flowing report of its activities when I only get to see the bird on a once in a while sighting. My write up would be rendered meaningless if the reports are sketchy, far and apart.

Depending on how the cut off point for the fledging of Goshawk is defined, I feel happy to record - staying in the nest or out of the nest! I have in my own record, the time frame  followed by the Goshawk. Most important - at this stage I am not wrong to term it as a fledgling. Another successful nesting season.

After the excitement of the Goshawk fledgling having left the nest, this episode of nesting would end. Yes ended!

I made an important discovery on this day, 24th August. This new awareness should actually re-traced back to Sunday 22nd. That Sunday as I was combing the thickly wooded area by the river bank, a medium size bird with the looks of a Cuckoo was startled and driven out of the low perch by Tan. That incident was KIV as we did not have a good ID.

This morning 24th, I saw the same bird on the ground and I instinctively followed it through the lowest branches of trees.  It turned out to be an adult Goshawk. Goshawk as I know, it is a predator that remain in the upper storey. The 2 recent encounters reinforced my many other observations made over the years in Rimba that Goshawk do spend time in the lower storey.

With this new findings, I go back to the times when I was unable to spot both the parent and fledgling for days, also my opening comments in this page that Goshawk was never spotted in Rimba Kiara for months. Isn't it obvious that the Goshawk is the master of camouflage. It decide on when it can be exposed in the open and other time remain in stealth.

April 22nd, 2009 - Wednesday 39 days after leaving the nest

Making direct but gentle flight across open space and perching of the convenient branches. I watched the bird for a while. On 2 separate landings, he could not get a good grip on landing. Fumbled and got itself vertical before finding a secure perch. Good example of his progress and also the time needed for a Goshawk to be "hunt ready".

But back to the days of March 14th, I was waiting for the fledgling to develop its power of flight as most fledgling would do before they leave the nest. In the later days of observations, I realized that Goshawk are known for very powerful flight through the branches of tree. The fledgling needed extended time to garnet this skills.

 Perhaps what I saw all this while was stage 1. The nest had served its purpose of holding the chick for the growing period. The developed chick with agility to move could leave the nest. After all remaining in the nest attract predator and taxing the parent effort in doing guard duty.

Stage 2 would be the rest of the development time, learning about staying in ambush. Doing exercise in preparation with flight and perching. That could possibly explain that short stay in the nest.

The time I spent waiting to see action by the chick and with so little action seen, was frustrating. Each and every day when I spotted the chick it hardly moved from its perch and stayed for hours in that same position. Feeding time as I understand was extended to 20-30 minutes, was irregular and unpredictable.  So I was never there when that event took place. I suppose the parent did brought back a variety of food, some can be handled by the chick without assistance. That was when the parent stood guard and the chicks tearing away by itself inside the nest.

All said, the more important moments like the time when the parent bringing food, the type of food and how it was handled was never recorded.

Was the parent concerned about the where about of the nest being spotted or the danger associated with having a chick in the nest?  I can see that the parents and the chick were never cautious of being watched. So that's the behavior of predator when compared with the ordinary smaller birds.

I have seen Goshawk nesting in the Rimba before and so far each brood had only brought out one chick. The parent took great care that the fledging was a successful one. Judging from previous sightings, this bird is breeding regularly in this suburban park which also meant that the chances of the continuation of this species is more than good.