Hi all
Today, David Mitford, David
Koffel and I observed the nesting Grey
Goshawks at Prospect Reservoir (approx. 40 km west of Sydney CBD). The 2 chicks
have almost doubled their size in a week with one showing lots of grey feathers
in the wings. We observed the female adult Goshawk come in close to the nest
with prey in talons. Neither of the adult Goshawks landed on the nest to feed
the young while we were observing them, even though we were some distance, a
reasonable hundred or so metres away from their nest.
The male adult Goshawk landed in a tree next to where we were standing from
time to time as if to distract our attention away from their nest. The adult
Grey Goshawks give the impression that they want to be very secretive in their
nesting behaviour unlike other raptors I have seen. I
have approached both nesting Red and Brown Goshawks at a closer distance without
causing much bother to the nesting birds.
Other birds around the nesting Grey Goshawks included
Crested Shrike-tit, Bar-shouldered Dove, Variegated Wrens, Varied Sitellas and Scarlet Honeyeaters. Also, a stunning pair of
Great Crested Grebe was seen displaying on the reservoir itself.
Edwin Vella
