I have been following the growing of the Japanese Sparrowhawk chicks I have written in past. I have, anyhow been too busy to write about them, so I am sharing a few images and lines from my visits to their nest.
以前も書いきましたツミの家族を引き続き観察しています。ブログを書く時間はなかったので、少し前の写真に何行かを書いてシェアします。
3 July: It turned out that there were five fledgelings, not three, as I and other photographers had thought. I was somewhat surprised how big a difference there was between the oldest and the youngest bird.
７月３日：雛は三羽ではなくて五羽もいました！一番子と末っ子の差は驚くほど大きかったです。まだ真っ白の子がいれば、ツミらしい色の子もいました。
5 July: I don’t know whether it was the hard wind, whether the nest was getting too small for the five siblings, or perhaps whether one of the chicks overestimated it’s flying skills, but it happened that one of the chicks fell from the nest and could not immediately return back. Possibly overwhelmed by the amount of people, it walked further and further away from the tree where the nest was with a result that some crows detected it and tried to attack it. With a little bit of help from humans such as chasing away the crows, the bird was eventually able to get back to it’s nest.
７日５日：風は強かったせいか、巣は五羽の成長する雛に小さすぎるせいか、もしくは一羽は自分の飛行力に過剰自身だったせいか、一羽は巣から落ちてしまいました。直ぐに巣に戻ることができなかったみたいです。多くの人に圧倒されて、巣のある木から遠ざかったしまいました。やがてカラスに見つかり、攻撃も受けました。ここまでの成長を見守ってもらった人にカラスを追い払ってもらうなどの助けがあって、最終的に巣に戻ることができました。
6 July: The chicks are spending more and more time outside the nest sometimes looking down to the photographers and other passers by with curious eyes. When the mother arrives to the nest with a catch, they would quickly return to the nest.
７月７日：雛は巣の外での時間が長くなっています。たまに興味津津にフォトグラファーや通りかかる人々を見つめています。しかし、親鳥が餌を持って帰ると、速やかに巣に戻ります。
7 July: The chicks are taking short flights in neighboring trees. Although grown a lot, they are still a bit clumsy. (Oops, there wasn't enough space for the tail). At other times, they return to their favourite tree branches and are sitting close to each other while preening or sleeping.
７月７日：雛は巣がある木から隣の木に飛んだりします。体が大きくなってもまだ不器用です。 体が思ったより大きくて、尾羽が引っかかったりするシーンとかがありました。たまに巣の近くの気に入りの枝に戻って、並んで寝たり、毛づくろいをしたりします。
13 July: It seems that the oldest have already left the nest and are on their own. Presently, there are three chicks left. They were busy flying back and forth in the nest tree and neighboring trees. It happened that surprised by sudden noise of a leaf blower, all three chicks flew away from the nest tree at the same time.
It seems to me that they are soon ready to hunt and live on their own.
７月１３日：一部の雛はすでに巣立っているみたいです。確認できるは三羽のみです。活発に動いたり、遠くの木まで飛び交ったりします。園のスタッフが巣の近くにリーフブロワーを起動すると、大きな音に驚いて、三羽とも一気に飛び出すこともありました。
じかじか独立して完全に巣立つ時は近づいているだろう、と感じます。
