Celebrating the goshawks, Part II/III

 And feeding continued non-stop, almost every couple of hours, or less.

Doing justice to the parent's hard work of hunting and providing for them, devouring every part of the prey as the parent tore apart what looked like a squirrel catch.

No part was beyond impossible to swallow as each was consumed in entirety.

And no sibling rivalry here as each was duly fed.

Another week later, could the chicks now be only 5 weeks old, looking almost cuddly!  Certainly very sturdy, energetic and alert.  

It's heartening to know that they were protected from the daily afternoons of violent thunderstorms, kudos again to the parents' for their choice of tree and a solidly-built nest. 

How the taman had been ravaged by only one afternoon of vicious wind and rain ....

All the way down to the riverside.

A fallen Macaranga gigantea or Mahang Gajah meant loss of food to lots of birds here.

The leaves of the Mahang Gajah were heavily loaded with potential fruits.

Celebrating the goshawks, Part I/III

 The last nesting of the Crested Goshawks in the taman was in March 2020 before the MCO (Movement Control Order) due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Prior to this, the pair was observed to regularly nest here.

After 2020, for reasons unfathomable, presumably the same pair was seen to nest in and around different locations in the neighborhood, so to have the pair returned to nest in the taman was certainly a cause for celebration.

So when this avian couple was seen to display and mate for weeks in late February this year, the inevitable could only happen.

It was to be for almost 2 months before the female was sighted in April brooding for lengthy periods in the nest.  And its labour of love  was very similar to other birds, bearing pained expressions with opened beak.

And then we acknowledge why the crested goshawks carry the IUCN Least Concern status, as the goshawk community welcomed another 2 healthy chicks.

3 weeks later, in the first week of May, the two chicks, looking more than a couple of weeks old now, constantly kept the parents busy with their voracious appetites which, from afar, looked like many meals of Plantain Squirrels (a wise avian choice as far as I'm unapologetically concerned because the healthy squirrel population in the taman has been observed to be a constant threat to avian nestings here).  

A week later, approximately more than 3 weeks old now, we have healthy and alert chicks, kudos to the tireless parents, especially the female seen more than the male feeding!

And as normally occurred, one chick grew faster than the other.

The insatiable appetite of the larger chick ...

Strong, well-developed, sprightly at probably 3 weeks old only ...

... compared to the smaller sibling.

And how well trained to keep the nest clean!

As I was passing by

 

Guess its crest couldn't have shown longer, even from a distance!

The other beauties

Nonetheless deft

 It was blazing hot, (heat wave is definitely a bane when it comes to photography), yet the mud was still for the taking ... it's breeding season for the Pacific Swallows.

And this one couldn't be more industrious until it spotted me and poof, it fled, and towards me, what a teaser!

Pure aerodynamics at play