Brown Goshawk

Normally a bird of prey will stay away from me if I am camped by a water source. Rarely will they come and have a drink. This female Brown Goshawk was unusual because it flew around the small waterhole, saw me, perched across the other side, flew down then flew off, but returned not long after. And she gave me some lovely photos. How do I know it was a female? Because the male is a lot smaller and he came by about an hour later, but he did do the normal bird of prey behaviour and flew in then flew off.

Brown Goshawk

Wedge-tailed Eagles along the Tanami Road

I had been wondering where the Wedge-tailed Eagles were hanging out, as I hadn't seen one for quite a while heading out via Glen Helen towards Papunya. So, one week recently I decided to head up the Tanami Road, not to llok for Wedgies specifically, more for a change of scenery.

The first pair I came across were quite close to the road, one on a roadkill about 5 metres from the road and the other off the road a bit more, probably 15 metres from the road. I then noticed a third one soaring above. Generally it is the crows that make me aware of the possibility a Wedgie could be around as they are the birds that spread from the roadside first. On this occasion, there weren't any crows around, but the one by the roadside was moving on the carcass. I slowed, then stopped. The sun was still rising behind me. The golden hour. Time to try to get out of the car without disturbing the birds. Door open. Foot outside the car. Open the door wider. Camera in hand. Stand up to exit the car completely. Still the birds hadn't moved. Closed the door gently. Still there. Looking wary. Camera starts to come up ..... and there goes the close one. I looked across towards the second one on the ground, still there. I moved around behind the car and managed to get a few photos.

Wedge-tailed Eagle

I then continued driving, and saw another lone Wedgies sitting in a tree, again, the sun was still rising behind me. More photos.

I did see 5 more birds that morning, 9 in total, another couple and another threesome. All of the birds were within 15 kilometres, between the first sighting and the last. I thought this was interesting as generally I would see them further apart, but probably this was where the food was, so this is where they were. I didn't see any more roadkill after the initial threesome location, but it was lovely to see these majestic birds once more in the wild.

Grey Falcon the Ghost no more – observations and photos

Earlier this week I had the good fortune to observe a Grey Falcon. I have been travelling through this bird’s known areas for the past 4-5 years without success. This week, the grey ghost who flies became a ghost no more.

Before I posted the photos and this Blog entry, I checked with a few people just to make sure I wasn’t putting up photos of a different species. A huge thank you to Mark Carter, Chris Watson and Jonny Schoenjahn for assisting with the ID. For those of you who are unaware, Jonny is currently undertaking a thesis on Grey Falcons, and I strongly recommend you check out his website:

http://www.jonnybird-australia.com/greyfalcon.htm

The photos below are of an immature bird starting to get its adult plumage, thank you to Jonny for this piece of information. I have included some photos that are not nearly as sharp as I would like, to give a small impression of the behaviour of the bird I observed.

Some of the other behavioural traits I noticed was this bird only came close to the ground for a short time. It was quite lazy in its wing-beats and tended to soar very high, higher than most birds apart from possibly a Wedge-tailed Eagle or a Black-breasted Buzzard when they soar on the thermals. Having said that, it wasn’t too far up for the eye to see, so if you are looking for Grey Falcons, don’t look too far into the atmosphere. When it turned, the tail feathers spread similar to a Brown Falcon.

The day was cloudy, which normally would make spotting a bird up high fairly hard as they do blend in with the clouds, but the dark wing-tips made this particular bird a bit easier to view. It was also quite windy, so, added to my excitement, alas the photos aren’t what I expected when I downloaded them off the camera.

There were thousands of Zebra Finches in the location, as well as a few Cockatiels, Budgerigars, Willie Wagtails and a largish flock of about 80 Crested Pigeons. I didn’t observe the bird hunt, but there was certainly enough prey.

I was lucky enough for the Grey Falcon to fly over me from behind quite low down, and it continued to watch me as it flew away from me. It took a long time for it to wheel around and head back toward me, and even then it was a fairly tight turning circle then away and up from me again.

So, for those of you who are yet to see a Grey Falcon, keep looking, they are not a ghost. The observed features I saw that were helpful in knowing the bird was indeed a Grey Falcon were the yellow beak and eye area, the “dumpy” muscle-bound body, and the tail length and position compared to the feet in flight. The really high soaring probably ruled out a few species that are similar. I have included some distant comparison shots of the Grey Falcon and a mature Brown Goshawk for a visual explanation of the tail/feet length and position.

Although I am excited to see and be able to watch the Grey Falcon’s behaviour, there was something a little bit lacking from my expectations of seeing this enigmatic bird for the first time. I have seen a number of wonderful close up photos of the bird perched in a tree and I probably hoped I would be able to enjoy the same sort of experience the other photographers had had. I also really wanted to be with my son when I saw my first Grey Falcon. Alas, this wasn’t to be. The sighting was still a huge buzz, and an experience I will remember for a long time.

Grey Falcon

Black Falcon takes Cockatiel while Magpie-lark looks on at Papunya

Earlier this week I was watching the activities at the Papunya Water Treatment Plant, or Poo Ponds if you prefer. Over the past few visits I have watched a Black Falcon hunting. Until this occasion I hadn't seen it be successful.

The first manoeuvre was the usual swoop in low and fast, scattering the Zebra Finches every which way, thanks largely to the alarm call by either the Magpie-larks or the Singing Honeyeaters nearby. The next style was to soar to a great height then zoom down almost vertically, not quite the sound of a Peregrine Falcon coming down from a cliff but not too far off it. This time the alarm call was a bit later, but the Black Falcon still came up empty.

As I was watching the Black Falcon move off to its perch just out of sight, a group of 7 Cockatiels screeched their presence. They did their normal scouting trip or 20 over the water. I suppose they have good reason to be flighty, but, like I often think with the Budgies, if they just came straight in, had a drink and left, surely the birds of prey wouldn't have a chance to get set up for an attack, but I suppose this has been happening for a lot longer than I've been bird-watching.

The group of 7 finally settled and came down for a drink, then flew off squawking. Three more appeared and also did their normal fly-bys. On the other side of the Ponds, some Zebra Finches were on the Ponds edge, flitting to and from perimeter the fence. One of the Cockatiels flew down beside them and started to drink. The Black Falcon made its move. A quick swoop and the Cockatiel panicked, flopping down into the ponds a couple of meters from the edge. Its wings now wet, it was no longer a Cockatiel but a sitting duck. The Black Falcon wheeled above the perimeter fence and flew back to pick up the hapless Cockatiel. The Magpie-lark nearby flew up squawking, then shadowed the Falcon for as long as it could. As the Falcon flew higher, it de-feathered the prey, and then flew off presumably to sit and enjoy its meal.

Photos of the 10 Birds of Prey around Nyirripi

I am coming to the end of a 3 week stint out at Nyirripi, a remote Aboriginal Community about 450 kms WNW of Alice Springs. It is just 10 kms west of Newhaven Wilderness Reserve, and about 160 kms from Yuendumu.

Over the past 3 weeks, I have seen 10 Birds of Prey, namely:
Australian Hobby, Black Kite, Black-breasted Buzzard, Brown Falcon, Collared Sparrowhawk, Little Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Square-tailed Kite, Wedge-tailed Eagle and Whistling Kite.

I have watched Whistling Kites copulate, Brown Falcons sit and watch over 1000 Zebra Finches drink then swoop down on the lone Diamond Dove coming for a drink, been staring down the camera barrel at a Collared Sparrowhawk rushing straight at me and nearly dropped the camera, been confused by the Square-tailed Kite (Spotted Harrier, no, Swamp Harrier, no, Little Eagle, no, Square-tailed Kite?) and been amazed at the speed of the Australian Hobby, and a little disappointed I haven't managed to see the speed of the Peregrine Falcon. All in all a wonderful bird of prey location.

Brown Falcon

Wedge-tailed Eagle

Whistling Kite

Square-tailed Kite

Black Kite

Little Eagle

Australian Hobby

Black-breasted Buzzard

 Collared Sparrowhawk

Peregrine Falcon