Hi perebrine,
I don’t think I’m giving anything away that hasn’t already been described in previous years threads.
When our Hobbies first arrive, usually early May, they are extremely difficult to locate. They appear to wander around the general area for several weeks, presumably scouting for suitable nest sites, which will invariably be vacated crows nests. As the crows are still raising their own young the Hobbies won’t decide where to nest until the crows move out in a few weeks time. Each year, on our particular site, the Hobbies have chosen a different nest, but they’ve all been within about 1 square mile of each other.
Right now it’s really hard to pin the Hobbies down and you need to bear in mind these birds spend many hours hidden away, sat in trees. But like any bird, once they choose a nest site their activity tends to narrow down more towards that specific area – and that’s where you might get the chance to observe their behaviour at a discreet distance, and I have to emphasise the discreet distance. You must not try to get close to the nest because the birds won’t tolerate the disturbance and we usually stay at least three hundred yards away.
So really, it's just a case of keeping your local area under close observation and hope you get lucky !
Hope you find you local Hobbies and enjoy them as much as we have enjoyed ours.