Successful Breeding: Crested Goshawk

6th March 2011, Taman Melawati, Selangor

I  was aware of the presence of a pair of Crested Goshawk in Taman Melawati   about a year ago (back in February 2010). Sometimes you would bump into them catching mice near  Taman Melawati Secondary School. I was  curious to  find out more about the pair when I was told by my son Ilyas that he had seen  4 hawks in the trees in front of his school.  Hopped on my  little scooter   for a two-minute cruise to the school . Upon parking the bike I scanned the area and immediately spotted one adult Goshawk  preening herself in the early morning sunshine. Satisfied with the shots I had taken I went to a fruiting fig tree behind the school where Ilyas said he saw a few  what could be Oriental-Pied Hornbills. It was a no show and on my way out of the school compound  ( in front of the guard house)  I looked upwards towards a tree right in the middle of the road divider and saw a large nest; it was hardly 20 ft off the ground. I was told by Pakcik Man, the school guard that there were two young birds which had flown  away from the nest about two weeks earlier and the nest now looked inactive.   Without any high expectation I went back  there at about 5.30pm and to my surprise there they were, a young Goshawk on the nest and an  adult bird (partially hidden behind the tree branch). The fledgling was feeding on something that the adult had brought  to the nest, I assume that the fledgling  was still too young to hunt.   Image quality ( 2 pics above and below) is not very good, tried using a 1.4xTC on the D7000 + 300mm f/4.  I find that the quality of the   cropped images ‘without the TC setup’  is much better. The young bird flew from the nest to a nearby tree, I could see that she still has a lot to learn about flight in general. It was more like gliding from tree to tree than actually flying.

Fly ‘Hakem’ Fly: Whiskered Treeswift

21st August 2010, Kemensah, Selangor

The tree where they nested was covered in new green leaves and the surrounding vegetation looked lush after  the spell of wet weather we’ve had. The nest was still there but the swiftlet and the parent birds were nowhere to be seen. Later I saw  the parents flew to a nearby tree. Still no sign of the swiftlet. Had she fledge or had she become another casualty of our recent unsettled weather?

Dad  resting after  sallying for insects

Mom just looking on.

Still no sign of the swiftlet….. I guess I will never know what had happened to her. 20 minutes had passed when I heard a faint but familiar sound coming from a Rambutan tree behind me, it’s the swiftlet! She had fledged and judging by the rather sluggish way she flew and a few aborted landings she must have fledged  quite recently, maybe yesterday or even today! It’s a  male based on the barely visible rufous ear coverts.    Yes, …….. I will name thee ‘Hakem’.     He  flew onto a dead tree  up the slope   This was the last I  saw ‘Hakem’ when I lost sight of him after he flew further into the orchard. I waited  for another half an hour should  he return to the area…… no luck. Probably he just came  to say goodbye.  In conclusion, the chick fledged after   27-30 days ( my best estimates). Thanks for briefly letting me into their lives,  at least there’s a happy ending to this story. Adios Amigos.    ( Previous post of the chick)

Chick’s Progress 3 : Whiskered Treeswift

14th August 2010, Kemensah, Selangor

We had   heavy thunderstorms and extremely strong winds yesterday. Picked up the morning paper and the headline was ‘ 3 killed  at Ramadhan Bazaar in Jasin, Melaka’  when the temporary structures were carried away by the strong wind-so sad to learn about the tragic loss of lives. I was anxious to find out how the Treeswifts fared after the thunderstorm. When I arrived at the nest I saw that the tree had sprouted new shoots/ leaves so I couldn’t immediately spot the chick.  A long sigh of relief  when I saw the chick basking and spreading her wings in the early morning sunshine. Phew…… ( Previous post of the chick) It was day 20 from when the chick was first sighted (25th July 2010). I think she could be  23 days old today. The white head stripes were clearly visible and she now looked like a ‘mini’ whiskered treeswift. My feeling is that the chick could be a ‘ he’. Judging by the progress I think the chick should fledge in about a week, I certainly hope so!  I only have until 25th August before going  on a long leave. This would make a good Father’s Day card. Any suggestions on the names? I was thinking ‘Hakem’ for a male and ‘Esah’ if it’s a female – she’s from Kemensah! I caught Dad dozing off a few times and was startled when he was  about to  lose his balance  and fall off the tree!  Raising a young is no easy task, it takes a heavy toll on your body.   Working those newly developed wing muscles. It wont be long now before those muscles will have to function for real. Notes: I didn’t know that I had more ‘reach’ stored in my camera bag than  I had realized. My old Kenko 1.4x TC had some problems with the contacts and I had replaced it with the Nikkor 14EII. It looked ridiculous at first when I tried putting the two TCs together on the 300mm f4 lens but I was surprised that I now have  an 882mm reach ( D90 1.5x crop) with  full  working electronics and autofocus , WoW!. You can do this with Kenko TC since the front glass element does not protrude  and touch the rear elements of the Nikkor TC. Image quality is definitely better than the manual 2x TC which I had  used previously and having the autofocus helps tremendously.

The Real ‘BIRD’S NEST’ : Baya Weaver

7th August 2010, Kemensah, Selangor

It’s breeding season for the Baya Weavers. This male with a yellow crown  is busy weaving  his  nest – no architect, no blueprints needed to build such an intricate hanging structure, it’s all imprinted in the genes.

That’s the Way It Is: Whiskered Treeswift

10th June 2010, 6.00pm, Kemensah, Selangor.

Something just didn’t seem right when I arrived at the nest this afternoon. There was no bird  at the nest and the nest  itself looked rather untidy. Then I noticed that the egg was no longer there. I searched  below the nest and I saw  the remains of the  soft egg shell. I couldn’t see any movement inside the nest and there was no sign of the parent birds coming to the nest to feed; not a good sign. Then I saw  a trail of red ants which led to a little object that they were trying to move. Yes it was what I had feared- the tiny carcass of the chick. She had probably fallen from the nest earlier today and died. Just to give an idea of the size of a newly hatched Whiskered Treeswift. Notes: The diameter of the 10 sen coin is  approximately 19 mm Sad as it may be but that’s the way it is in the animal kingdom. Some survive to complete a full cycle of life and some don’t. In conclusion I would say that the incubation period for this species is between 24-26 days ( assuming that 16th May was when the egg was laid). One thing for sure, they had given me some very useful insight into the lives of  these beautiful birds. It would have been good to be able to see the chick  at  different stages of development but it wasn’t to be. Life goes on and  before I left the area, both parent birds came to a nearby tree and it looked  as if they were already starting another round of the procreation process. Thanks and good luck  to them.

Incubating Whiskered Treeswift: Day 24

8thJune 2010, 5.30pm, Kemensah, Selangor.

Still no chick. Changing of the Guards: I saw the male  circling and ‘buzzing’ the nest a few times  indicating that the  changeover was imminent. This time I was ready! The female was initially on duty.   The male flew in next to the female The female flew off.  The change was over in 3 seconds. The nest now looks like a ball socket holding the egg, preventing it from moving and  rolling  off the nest. More maintenance work by the male.