Hobby Thread 2010 (1 Viewer)

[halftwo]

Breakfast Double

08:10 - 09:15 : cool, but brightening, slight breeze.


Lots of viz mig today - with a steady-ish passage of Swallows all on a very definite southerly heading. Meadow pipits too, naturally - but also movements of finches - Chaffinches in the main.

Along with these movements, before the light made it good enough to identify them for sure a flock of about fourteen geese - possibly White-fronts - headed south east-ish, low, but against the sun. Could have been Greylags but a feel of White-fronts about them.

And the autumn's first Redwing - a single bird making haste away from a hunting Hobby - but I'm getting ahead of myself.

As yesterday the young Hobbies were on the pylon, sitting up high in the breeze as the sun began to rise. Watching the passage of other birds and birds in stubble, I saw a Buzzard getting chased by a Crow, which lead my eye to a falcon behind: I just caught the end of a Hobby hunt, for it was the adult male diving and twisting to pluck a (possible) Meadow pipit from the air.

Without more ado he headed straight for me, for I was between him and his young. Within seconds the juveniles spotted him - and adult and offspring closed in: a food pass right over my head.

The Hobby with the prey headed for the cover of the nest tree, while its sibling went back to the pylon. The adult male, meanwhile, went to his old perch tree to sit in sunshine and preen.

While watching the continuing southward procession of various passerines I missed the male setting off again: he had been sitting for only twenty or so minutes. The young had set off after him briefly - soon returning to perch. But I spotted him to the south as that Redwing flew out of his range - and he turned and headed west fast, pausing to take an insect before disappearing.

The youngster had finished eating and flew to the copse to hide away, the other atop the pylon. This youngster headed to the copse too - flying around the trees where its sibling was hidden, then made off with purpose to the west.

The male was coming in with prey again - and another aerial food pass took place - both youngsters in the air as the three returned to the copse and vanished again. This second hunt had taken thirty-five minutes.

As I made to leave a Migrant hawker began to fly in the warming morning.

 

[skylark25]

Hi guys I know you are talking about Hobbies in the UK but just to let you know that yesterday was a great day in Malta for birds of Prey and at Buskett watchpoint no less than 20 Hobbies were present!!

 

[halftwo]

Hi Skylark - no this is a thread about Hobbies anywhere - welcome to the thread, good to know birds of prey are OK in Malta. Let us know more as often as you wish.

Cheers,

H

 

[John Barber]

Still Here

08.45 - 09.00

Well it's the 23rd September today and at least two of our hobbies are still with us.

The birds were giving a crow a hard time, calling loudly as they flew in and around a copse. It was difficult to tell but there were certainly two, possibly three hobbies involved in the mêlée.

With winds forecast to turn to a northerly direction later today and temperatures set to plummet I hope these birds set off soon. The insects that form such a large part of their diet will surely become much scarcer in the coming days.

 

[Cristian Mihai]

Still here too.

 

[John Barber]

End Of This Years Story

13.30 - 14.15 Cold, blustery NE wind. Grey skies. 13c

Poor weather and an elusive American Blue Winged Teal over at Risley had prevented me from visiting the site since early yesterday morning. I had hoped to wave a final goodbye to our Anglo African visitors - but to late.

Conditions have deteriorated significantly since Wednesday and it was no surprise this afternoon to find no sign of the hobbies. Many corvids and pigeons tumbled around the sky in the strong cold wind but the absence of the hobbies only emphasised the bleakness of the day. The one highlight was a fly past by a marauding Peregrine, eyes firmly fixed on the wind blown pigeons.

I can't be 100% sure as I was only there for 45 minutes, but I'm reasonably confident the birds have set off on their migration. Lets hope they make it and we see them back again next year.

 

[halftwo]

I can't be 100% sure as I was only there for 45 minutes, but I'm reasonably confident the birds have set off on their migration.

Thanks for the update, JB. I will check in the morning...

 

[halftwo]

Frosted Falcons

07:30 - 08:15 : Cold and bright.


Two young perched on the pylon in the early sunshine!

JB turned up not long after - so you know I'm not making it up!

But he had left before the action: off on yet another twitch.

As usual I'd turned my attention to other things when I heard a cry from a Hobby, spun round to see the adult male come in and, perhaps, as I didn't see it, pass some prey to one of the young, before he continued to accelerate away after passing Meadow pipits.

I watched him hunt, while one of the young hid away, maybe eating, the other back to the tree still calling.

The male missed a second catch and returned to the copse. The youngster without food calling non-stop. He moved away. Then the second youngster appeared, cleaning its bill on the branch - further evidence of having eaten.

And that was it - except a Hare's movement earlier that had put us on to a new Little owl tree: certainly one of the young from nearby establishing a home in the copse.

JB says he had to scrape the ice off his car this morning: it's time summer falcons were moving on.

 

[John Barber]

How Wrong Can You Be

07:30 - 08:15 : Cold and bright.


Two young perched on the pylon in the early sunshine!

JB turned up not long after - so you know I'm not making it up!

But he had left before the action: off on yet another twitch.

How embarrassing, I knew my prediction would come back to bite me.

Being embarrassed, I didn't hang around for too long. A Whiskered Tern at IMF beckoned.

Arrived at the reserve to hear that no WT had been seen this morning. But even so, I decided to spend a little time in the hide and was rewarded with a great view of a Little Stint, only the second I've ever seen. However, it was soon apparent that I needed to move on if I was to have any chance of finding the Tern.

So I moved down to Denhall Lane and walked along towards Decca Pools and the quay. Finally I bumped into a few birders watching a Black Tern but again no one had seen the WT.

I spent another hour scanning the estuary and eventually returned to IMF, but still no WT - just another Hobby !!

And that's how it ended, no Whiskered Tern to be found anywhere. My third failure in a week.

:C

 

[John Barber]

Missing Again

17.00 - 17.50 Bright but cool.

Neither sight nor sound of any hobbies this evening.

Had they hid at the back of their favourite tree, or were they heading for the South coast - who knows !

It will interesting to see if H finds them in the morning.

 

[halftwo]

17.00 - 17.50 Bright but cool.
Neither sight nor sound of any hobbies this evening.
Had they hid at the back of their favourite tree, or were they heading for the South coast - who knows !
It will interesting to see if H finds them in the morning.

Leave it to the professionals!

 

[John Barber]

My bet is, you won't find them.

 

[halftwo]

And Then There Was...

08:00 - 08:40 : Cold & bright.

Arrived to an empty, quiet site. No sign of the young...

Scanned likely perches - nothing. Seemed eerily empty without them. Didn't have much time before work...

Then suddenly a familiar call ! A Hobby flew in and perched! It was the adult male with prey - and it was his call, not the youngsters' begging call. He was looking for them - but got no response.

For a minute he sat, peering around before starting to eat the prey himself. After several mouthfuls he would look around some more, resuming the meal several times over half an hour.

A skein of ninety Pink-footed geese in a V came in from the west, calling. Then over beyond the Hobby another skein of forty geese - looser flocked and slower wingbeats suggesting another species - Greylags perhaps.

Plenty of movement: Skylarks and Lapwings back on patch; ten Swallows low and south, Meadow pipits and gulls passing.

The Hobby finished the bird and began to preen. I had to leave. I bade the plucky little falcon goodbye - still steadfast in providing for his young the whole season: and now, the season had turned and cooled. His young had finally departed; it surely would be his turn to head for warmer climes.

Five months have passed again. Time to close this thread. ?


Should have taken you up on the bet, John!

 

[John Barber]

The End - Probably !

Five months have passed again. Time to close this thread. ?

Looks like it H.

Had a quick look myself this morning but didn't see anything again and it was too cold to hang around for long.

I think that's just about it.

 

[sid ashton]

Bon Voyage !!

I too was there for a while around 10.00 - very chilly out of the sun no sign of any of the family although the view is now quite good after the hedge trimming A distant Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk over the site was nice to see. So good luck to our Hobbys where-ever they are now.

 

[halftwo]

Gone?

09:30 - 10:00 ish.

Bit of a lie in today : dull, cool.


No sign of any Hobby. Maybe even the male has migrated now.

A dozen Swallows headed south.


A sum-up to finish soon.

 

[halftwo]

The 2010 Season: A Summary

The season began on the 4th. of May with the first sighting: nothing unusual in this.

By mid May an female intruder kept the female of the pair busy with a few days of territory dispute, reaching a climax on the 18th with a big fight with both birds ending up locked together on the ground.

By the end of May the Crows' nest that the Hobbies seemed to have chosen was empty at last - and the pair settled more and more around the new nest tree - which was about 500 mtrs away from the previous year's nest.

Mating began on the 29th. and by the beginning of June continued with more frequent nest visits.

Suddenly on the 9th. of June - just when laying should begin - the pair upped-sticks to another nest not far from the old nest. No reason was observed for this and we were concerned as the new nest site was very close to a footpath. For eight days they remained close to this new nest and it looked like they had swapped sites - but no sign of incubation was seen - just when expected. A worrying interlude which suddenly ceased on the 18th. when they reverted back to the original nest!

By early July, later than expected, incubation seem to have started, but this year's nest was invisible from all possible safe-distance viewing sites: frustrating after last year's excellent viewing due to a fortuitous gap in their tree.

So things were settled and July was quiet (as usual during incubation) until the end of the month when the young had hatched. On the 29th. it seemed that prey was being taken to the young in the nest.

So on the 2nd. of August, while the young were still vulnerable and small, it was with great consternation that a massive Crow attack on the nest occurred. Three anxious days passed when it appeared that, perhaps, the young had been killed. Then evidence of them being fed again led us to believe that all was alright.

August's start was atrocious weather-wise and another period of five days went when we saw no nest activity: anxious grim days. To add to this the Swifts had departed early this year - and in comparison to 2009 there was a dearth of their prey. Then on the 15th. an extraordinary event: not only evidence of young being fed - but food being brought to the female by a second male! Twice that day his presence was tolerated as he had provided food: surely an offspring of the pair from a previous year.

On the 16th. with the possibilty of ringing the nestlings a nest inspection was made. Two well-grown young could be seen for the first time sitting well up in the nest. The nest was in too much of a vulnerable and dangerous to reach position to make ringing possible though.

By the 19th. the young, now sitting on the nest rim, were visible from our usual viewpoint - even if the weather had again turned grim. By the 24th. the young were out of the nest and made rapid progress - insect-catching practice by the 29th.!

On the 30th. the extra male again brought prey (of course this could have been a daily occurance, unobserved) and on the 2nd. of September he was with the pair as they hunted. On the 3rd an intruder female put in another appearance - making four adults and two young! Early September saw several occasions when extra adults were around.

By mid month the female seemed to be absent almost the whole time - with the male still coming in to drop food to the young who were more mobile, though typically lazy for much of the day. The last day the female was seen was the 20th.

For a few days after his mate's departure the male continued to feed the young - as the days grew colder and shorter. The 25th. was the last day the young were seen: four days later than last year, by which time both parents had long-gone.

So on the 26th the young were on their way, and the male brought his last item of prey to an empty tree, which he could eat all to himself. This was his signal to go - the next day there was no sign of him too.


Many thanks to all contributors to the thread over the months - especially to JB & Sid. The season was strange in many ways and others with previous pairs to add to the observations had bad seasons - and many anxious moments seemed to be the theme here.

So that's it for seven months, folks. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. See you next April/May (with luck).

H

 

[Himalaya]

So on the 2nd. of August, while the young were still vulnerable and small, it was with great consternation that a massive Crow attack on the nest occurred. Three anxious days passed when it appeared that, perhaps, the young had been killed. Then evidence of them being fed again led us to believe that all was alright.
H

Must have been a bit hard to watch something as common as a Crow to attack the rarer Hobby.

Was this one Crow alone? Do Crows go around killing BOP chicks? I would nt have thought Hobby posed threats to Carrion Crows.

 

[halftwo]

Must have been a bit hard to watch something as common as a Crow to attack the rarer Hobby.

Was this one Crow alone?

I'll let you read the relevant thread, Himalaya.

Crows are natural predators which will attack any vulnerable thing, and defend their territory from any supposed threat, real or otherwise.

 

[John Barber]

I'm still amazed at footage shown on Autumn watch ( I think it was ) of crows taking young mute swan chicks from under their parents noses.