While the rest of the Alice Springs Twitching world was in a frenzy about a Forest Wagtail, first mainland sighting and wonderfully written up in Chris Watson's Birds Central blog on the Forest Wagtail, I was out chasing the Wagtail in the wrong location, so alas, a dip for me. However, I was compensated with some lovely photos at the Alice Springs Poo Ponds, in particular this Little Eagle.
The above shot was taken as it flew off. Just prior to this, it had come up from one of the ponds and sat on shrubs about 5 metres from me. Not sure who got more of a shock, me or the bird!
Below is a comparison in size with a Magpie Lark and then with a Black Kite and a Little Crow
Also had some fun taking photos of Whistling Kites. here are some of them:
And I am fairly sure this is a Collared Sparrowhawk, but could change this to a Brown Goshawk after some ID assistance. It had just caught the unfortunate Magpie Lark on the ground and all I saw was it fly up into the tree, not realising it had something in its talons until it flew from the first tree to the second.
Below is a comparison in size with a Magpie Lark and then with a Black Kite and a Little Crow
Also had some fun taking photos of Whistling Kites. here are some of them:
Estupendas capturas de estas bellezas de rapaces.Saludos
ReplyDeleteYes Richard, looks like a Collared Sparrowhawk. A couple of easy ways of differing the two species. Brown Goshawk: frown,round(tail in flight). Collared Sparrowhawk: stare,square(tail in flight).
ReplyDeleteGreat capture - both by you and the sparrowhawk. Here's hoping the wagtail gives you another chance!
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