Return of the Black-breasted Buzzard pair from last year

Last year I watched a pair of Black-breasted Buzzards nest, mate and then raise a chick until almost a fledgling. Sadly, the young one (I think) fell out of the nest, possibly during a fairly windy, violent storm, and I'm fairly certain didn't make it.

The pair has returned to the same nest to try again. I'm hoping they are more experienced and have better luck.

Currently they are sitting (I am presuming) on egg(s). The male was doing the majority of the sitting while I was there recently, with the female preening, chasing off Whistling Kites and being harassed by the nearby Brown Goshawk neighbours when she flew a bit close to them mating.

I managed to get a few shots of the pair as per below. Hopefully as the year continues I'll be able to post some shots of a chick or two and then some fledged young.

Black-breasted Buzzard

Renner Springs, Newcastle Waters, Buchanan and Buntine Hwy bird photos

The drive between Renner Springs and Lajamanu is exciting for me as I live in Alice Springs so don't generally get to see some of the birdlife along this stretch. Apart from the Finches, there are lots of other amazing birds. Here is a sample of some of the photos I took recently.

Black-chinned Honeyeater

Common Bronzewing

Grey-fronted Honeyeater

Nankeen Night Heron

Juvenile Pied Butcherbird

Rainbow Bee-eater

Red-kneed Dotterel

White-faced heron

White-necked or Pacific Heron

Willie Wagtail

Black-breasted Buzzard

Varied Lorikeet

A story and sequence of photos of a pair of Black-breasted Buzzards and Brown Falcon encounter

It is not unusual to see more than one bird of prey on the same day in my travels. What is unusual is to see two different types sitting very close to one another on the same branch.

I was driving along one of the outback roads west of Alice Springs and noticed a pair of Black-breasted Buzzards. The female flew off and the male obligingly stayed in the tree near the road. After a short time he followed to where the female had flown. I kept the camera trained on the male as it flew off, presumably to re-unite with its mate. As he moved further from me, I switched the focus to the tree where I thought he would land, next to the female. Instead I was in for a bit of a shock. There were already two large birds sitting there. I assumed the smaller of the two already on the branch was a juvenile Black-breasted Buzzard. I was wrong. Instead, a Brown Falcon was on the branch.
It was unfortunate the tree in question was so far away as some of the shots would have been much better, but the encounter was still interesting for two reasons.
Firstly, seeing the male and female BBBs together now, are they getting ready to breed? And secondly, was the Brown Falcon more aggressive as there was a nest nearby? Or was it just that the tree in question was the best vantage point for the local hunting ground. Regardless, I enjoyed the brief show.

Black-breasted Buzzards and Brown Falcon

Black-breasted Buzzard family saga

The fluffy white ball that was first spotted in the nest is now almost full size. Beautiful white feet, stunning feather colours, and a well-formed beak ready to make nice little mouthfuls of much larger prey. Recently I managed to get some lovely close-ups of what can no longer be called a "chick". With mum and dad close by keeping an eye on their pride and joy, the young Black-breasted Buzzard stood, sat, and yawned its way through another warm Central Australian afternoon.

Black-breasted Buzzard

They grow up so fast - Black-breasted Buzzard (now) juvenile

Took my son down to the Buzzard nest yesterday afternoon. The adults must be feeding the young one steroids - what a change in just one week. As you will see from the photos, the colour has changed quite a lot from only a week ago around the head, and the size is now much closer to the adults.

Black-breasted Buzzard

Juvenile (right) sitting with Mum

Adult female (Mum) returning to the nest

Juvenile (right) sitting with Dad

Juvenile left alone in the nest

Latest update on the Black-breasted Buzzards in the Lower Todd River

The chick has definitely changed from the last time I saw it about a week ago. Much bigger, and lots more of the deep rufous colouring on the back of its head. The beak is quite prominent, and it is starting to look more like an adult than a fluffy white chick now.

There are still other birds of prey hanging around, presumably potential nest robbers as the parents are still in constant attendance. A Little Eagle was almost taunting the female adult out of the nest at one point, flying very close by and calling. I haven't noticed such brazen behaviour before from the Little Eagle. Once the male had returned, the Little Eagle was quickly flown beyond the normal perimeter by the female.

The male gave a number of delightful photo opportunities. Eventually when the chick fledges I will be happy for the Buzzards, but a little sad that until they, or another pair come back to raise another chick or two, these moments I am able to capture won't be available as easily as they are now.

Unfortunately the wind was up and the videos taken are very wind-blown, both with noise and camera shake, so I won't be posting any videos from this recent encounter. Hopefully I'll be able to get some wind-free videos this coming weekend.

Black-breasted Buzzard

Male landing, female on nest

Female and chick

Male ruffled feathers

Female landing on perch next to nest

Female on perch about 30 metres south of nest

Male in flight

Male on nest with moon behind