(Click on images to enlarge - Blogger is unkind to these smaller versions)
After the trips were done (more on those to come), this weekend was free - to bird, run, meet friends, go out for drinks and generally make the most of our time here. Yesterday, after another fine run in Tiergarten (Goshawks, Short-toed Treecreepers, Middle Spotted Woodpeckers, Hawfinches, etc? Yup), we hooked up with my dear friend Michel and headed over to his local patch, Viktoriapark...
Mitch has been checking the Goshawks here for a while, and there's an active pair, which we soon caught up with. The male was initially in the treetops, but as we stood chatting in the middle of a busy Sunday's activity, he took off, swooped almost vertically, and to our astonishment, picked up prey literally at our feet; which is where he stood, ignoring us, for a few seconds before swooping up to a nearby branch to rip up and consume his quarry.
Now, a key element of our tours here is of course getting unrivalled views of these usually shy, elusive beasts, but this was off the scale even for us - a heart-stopping, expletive-inspiring experience we'll perhaps never repeat.
After watching this fire-eyed male for a good fifteen minutes and (re)acquainting myself with this fantastic park (great habitat and views), we heard the female calling nearby - who was then joined by the male in a loud embrace, as copulation was, er, evidently taking place....
Look closely (if that's your kind of thing).....
Sex, death and more Goshawk drama than we could've hoped for - quite a final afternoon here in this wonderful city.
If you'd like to join us on next year's trips, they're already up on the website -
click here for more (mine begins on the 8th).
