I was keen on a walk to the sea cliffs in Royal National Park to see how a breeding pair of Peregrine Falcons were going. Valerie and her great niece Izzy joined me. We had a very enjoyable walk.
We didn’t see the breeding pair of Peregrine Falcons but we did see their new juveniles. Three in total. And we also saw three White-bellied Sea Eagles.
Valerie drove to Wattamolla and we were soon on the Coast Track, heading north.
Christmas Bush
Large Tongue Orchid – Cryptostylis subulata
Fringe Lily
Crossing Wattamolla Creek –
Horned Orchid – Orthoceras strictum
Christmas Bells – Blandfordia nobilis
A lot of Hakea sp. was in flower on the heath –
When we arrived at the sea cliffs, we didn’t have to wait long for a Peregrine Falcon to fly past. It was a juvenile.
It circled around and then flew back –
The clifftops here have some strange Aboriginal art – many series of dots.
And there are also two sets of sharpening grooves. Here is one –
And the second set –
The a juvenile White-bellied Sea Eagle flew past –
I was hoping this large bird may bring the juvenile Peregrine Falcon to take to the air again. It did. It was flying after the Sea Eagle at high speed.
But it soon realised the Sea eagle was now a long way off.
It flew back south a few hundred metres. Then a second Juvenile Peregrine Falcon appeared and they were flying together –
Then a third one appeared and joined in. Nice!
All the action was a long way away unfortunately.
Then another juvenile White-bellied Sea Eagle flew past. This one had more white than the first ones was older.
Again, the juvenile Peregrines appeared –
The Sea Eagle didn’t seem to worried.
The Peregrines flew after the Sea Eagle, but soon returned and started flying together.
It had been great flying show!
Now was time to leave – we all wanted coffee at the cafe at Audley. So we walked back along the track back to Wattamolla.
Just as we arrived we spotted a third White-bellied Sea Eagle. This one was an adult.
Thanks to Valerie and Izzy for coming along, and special thanks to Valerie for driving down.