Goshawks in the Forest

At an undisclosed location, I was taken by a birding friend to see a nest.  This wasn't just an ordinary nest.  This was the best of a Northern Goshawk. Northern Goshawks are becoming harder and harder to find in southern New England. For one, they need large tracks of forested land to survive and they are very territorial. As southern New England went through various stages of its recent history, namely Agricultural, Industrial, Urban, and Suburban, our forests were cut and processed to satisfy the different space and energy needs. This meant that the Northern Goshawk had to go elsewhere to get the land and space it needed. Some have returned despite the continuing challenges of forested spaces around the region. 

 My friend was lucky enough to know of a nest and inspired me along for the ride to see the nest and the birds. Approaching the nest is a careful endeavor. Goshawks are territorial about all the creatures in their space and well chase of people and all sorts of birds and animals. We approached carefully. The Goshawks had chased several Pele already and we didn't want to stress the bird and the nest site. We barely made one bird sitting on the nest. After deciding not to stress them out any more, we began to gather to walk out of the forest. Then the other Goshawk returned. We heard it first. Then sawed it flying through ths trees. The Goshawk was circling us. We continued our walk and the Goshawk took to a perch to make sure we left. We honored the request and hoped or visit hadn't stressed the birds too much. 

 Enjoy the pictures. Until the next time, get outside and go birding !  

A Warning about approaching the nest

The Nest

An Angry Parent Goshawk Approaches

After Flying around and Vocalizing, Goshawk Watches us leave

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday - Link here

The Evidence of a Raptor Attack

I present the following as a case study in what you might encounter outside when walking around.  First, a very basic list of what I encountered:

Lots of feathers (namely banded black, grey and brown tail feathers)

Bird poop

Unidentifiable Feathers covered in poop

A Dense Cedar Stand

Take a look...

Using a Bird Feather ID book and the US Fish and Wildlife Services Feather Atlas (Link Here) I figured out that the tail feathers belonged to a Cooper's Hawk.  The Black and Grey Banding on the tail feathers identified the feather for me.  So now I am left with a few questions:

What could eat and dispose of a Cooper's Hawk (or like species)?
What enjoys dense stands of trees?
What has kinds of raptors have been seen at Hammonasset Beach State Park in the past few weeks?

I'll start with the easiest question to answer.  Here are a list of all the raptors reported on ebird for Hammo.
Bald Eagle
Merlin
Red-Tailed Hawk
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Sharp-Shinned Hawk
Great Horned Owl
Snowy Owl
Barred Owl
Northern Harrier
Peregrine Falcon

Given the fact that it was in a dense stand, Hawk or Owl seems more likely.  Merlins, Falcons and Eagles like more open or wet hunting spaces.  The Trees tell me that it is more likely a hawk or owl.  Given the fact also that the prey was itself a bird of prey, this means that tough bird is a work.

So this is a mystery that I cannot solve.  But I think that either a Great Horned or Barred Owl are work.  Both have been seen near the site of the feathers and the tree over the scene was a short but dense tree.  While, I can not be sure, finding the scene was a great insight into parts of the natural world.  I hope to find more mysteries and great questions about the natural world.  I hope you do too!