A warm day was forecast, so something not too strenuous sounded like a good idea, so I suggested a trip to Malabar Headland. Sue was keen in coming along, and this would allow us to get an update on the Peregrine Falcons and we could sit in shady spot and do some whale watching.
Despite the hot weather, we had a very pleasant day. This time we started earlier, and first walked along the track at the west side of Malabar Headland National Park. Last year we had seen some orchids along the track and we wondered if they would be out.
One lot of orchids was in flower.
Red Beard Orchid – Calochilus paludosus
These are different to the orchids we had seen a week earlier on the east side of the Park (Calochilus campestris)
However, we did not see any Flying Duck Orchids.
There were some Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos around –
And then we continued past Malabar Beach and entered the eastern Section of Malabar Headland National Park.
New Holland Honeyeaters
Flannel Flowers
White’s Skink
We soon spotted a Peregrine Falcon. It was the male.
Before we could get closer to it, it took off and flew out to sea.
We could see a Caspian Tern –
The Peregrine Falcon must have attacked the Tern, perhaps trying to keep it away from a nest? But the Tern seemed angry and went for the Peregrine Falcon.
The Peregrine Falcon returned to the cliffs.
It did not stay for long, and did some fast flying over the sea.
It landed further along.
It later flew off, and we only had a few short views of it later on.
Alana arrived and joined us for the rest of our visit.
Humpback Whales
These whales seemed to be heading North!
Some very distant Dolphins –
Alana then spotted a pair of Turtles just below the cliffs –
And a moth sheltering on the rock nearby –
It had been very hot, but we had been sheltering in the shade of an overhang. Then it became a lot cooler and very windy. So we decided to slowly walk back to Maroubra Beach.
At Dead Mans Gulch, we spotted three seals –
And at Magic Point, we saw two distant breaching Humpback Whales –
And near the Park entrance gate, we heard the distinctive call of a Golden headed Cisticola. We soon spotted it –
And just outside the Park, we saw a Black-shouldered Kite –
