The Northern goshawk

A Northern goshawk – the meaning of a ‘nest’ or ‘home’ (part 1 of 5)

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I regularly walk in a nice section of forest located in the east of Berlin, called Plänterwald. A green oasis with woodpeckers and singing birds; hedgehogs, squirrels, and so much more. On a sunny spring day, I went for an early morning walk (without camera, so sorry for the bad camera phone quality) and heard the sound of a hawk! When I looked up, I could see them flying over the canopy – typical courtship display of this time of the year. Later I found it sitting next to its nesting place – the discovery of the breeding site of a Northern goshawk!

Goshawks never leave their ‘home’, always stay in the same area, stay with the same partner, and always hunt in the same areas. If you consider your home a ‘nest’ – spring would be the moment in the year to do a proper clean-up. We go outside and stroll around the neighbourhood hunting for nice items that ‘fix’ the nest. We need the neighbourhood and its functions, so that we can live somewhere. The bakery, the supermarket, the local market, the local coffee bar, and the bookshop – every week we tend to come here – sometimes not even aware that these places are indispensable to the functioning of our homes.

We may now, in these weird times, start thinking of what this means. Self-reflection is the first step to knowledge, even of the commonest things, such as the concept of ‘home’.