Breeding Hobby in Maridalen 2024

Hobbies bred yet again in Maridalen this year and as with last year I was keen to discover and follow the nest from as an early a stage as possible. Things didn’t work out exactly as I hoped but there was successful breeding and I did get to follow a lot of what happened.

The first sighting in the Dale was on May 9^th although this could easily have been a passing migrant. On 13 May I had a pair around the nest site that has been used the last two years (at least) and assumed that they would settle here and that I would be able to follow them as planned.

That would be my last sighting there though. On 21 May I had a pair flying around at another site in the Dale and assumed that this was the same pair who were just visiting other areas before egg laying.

On 26 and 27 May the pair was making quite a bit of noise in yet a new area and I found a suitable old crows nest so thought that this would be where they chose to nest but then they disappeared again.

27 May the pair prospecting a nest site that they didn't end up using. May to the left

It wasn’t until 4 June that I had another sighting, or more correctly said hearing, when I heard one late in the evening at yet another site and on 7 June the pair were making a lot of noise at this new site and it was clear that this was where they had chosen to nest. Pretty much every time I visited the area I would either see or hear the birds and I had the male coming with food calling and the female would fly up to take the food. But could I find the nest?? I thought I did a few times but then had to accept I hadn’t. There were a lot of old Crows nests in the area but I never saw the female on any of them.

13 June - the male perched close to the (at the time not located) nest

On 9 July both adults were perched in a dead tree and their behaviour suggested strongly that they already had young but it wasn’t until 19 July that I found the nest!! The male flew in with food which the female who had been sitting in a favoured dead tree took from him. She then plucked the dead bird and I knew this would be my chance to find the nest and finally I was able to follow her as she flew to the nest 😊, a nest that I had not seen before. Although still covered in white downy feathers the two young I saw were already quite large and clearly around a couple of weeks old.

19 July - the male (left) bringing a bird to the female who would then take it to the young in the nest

the female leaving for the nest

20 July - the nest with one downy young visible

Once I had found the nest it of course became much simpler to follow the comings and goings but the nest was very high up in a thick spruce and it wasn’t possible to see in it even with a scope. Much easier to observe was mum who had a couple of favourite perches and was always keeping watch on the nest. The nest area was a very surprising choice as it was a very popular recreational area and there were often groups of kindergarten kids making lots of noise but I never once saw mum getting agitated due to the presence of humans although Magpies and Crows would quickly feel her wrath.

It would be natural to assume that this is the same pair as last year (and the previous years) but the female definitely looked different with her underparts not being a clean white base colour and also less red trousers.

 

On 27 July the two young were now perching on a branch by the nest and preening a lot with lots of downy feathers flying off. An adult flew into the nest with food and for the first time I realised there were actually 3 young.

29 July - the oldest young perched away from nest

all three young

On 30 July the two oldest young only had a few downy feathers left and were perched away from nest but the youngest was still on the nest itself and very white.

30 July - 2 of the young perched away from the nest whilst the youngest is still downy and on the nest

1 August - the adults

one of the young

the female

2 August the two oldest young

the left hand young which is the oldest

and the right hand young which is the middle bird

By 3 August the two oldest young had left the nest tree.

3 August - adult male

the youngest still in the nest tree

On 6 August the youngest still in nest tree and one of the other young found in tree 70m away. The adults seemed to be encouraging the youngest to fly by making a lot of noise nearby but not flying to it with food. The third youngster flew in during this and then both the oldest young started flying around amongst trees one of which got chased by a juv Sparrowhawk right past me.

6 August

the youngest still in the nest tree

After this the youngest left the nest and the whole family moved away from nest area and on 19 August all three young were by a clearing 5-600m from the nest. Still here on 24 August.

14 August

18 August

19 August

24 August

On 27 August they had moved a few hundred metres and the young were still calling a lot and also flying a lot. One of the young dive bombed a parent when it arrived with prey and the two then interacted in mid air. This was to be my last observation in the nest area although frequent other observations of flying adults and young in Maridalen over the next few days were probably the same family.

an adult arriving with a bird

a youngster that appeared from high up

 

the youngster chasing the parent. This is all part of the hunting training

the adult transfers the prey from its talons to its beak

and allows the youngster to try to take it

it takes it with its talons

and then flies off with its reward

one of the adults

Fledging period is given to be about 30 days and with the first young having left the nest tree around 3 August this would give a hatching date of 3 July. This also tallies well with my observation on 9 July of both adults perched close to nest and the fact that the female broods for the first ten days. Incubation is also ca.30 days so egg laying would have begun around 3 June which also matches with my observations. The young become independent 30-40 days after fledging and my last sighting in the breeding area was 24 days after the first young left the nest so I assume that the family group would have remained together for another week or so even though they had left the nest area.