I thought it worth doing a few more trips to Malabar Headland National Park while it remains open. For much of the next few months (so far – September to November) the eastern part of the National Park will be closed while police train on the nearby rifle range.
So I joined Sue for an afternoon out on the Headland, and we were later joined by Alana. It was quite a cold and windy day, with the wind from the north east.
For a long time it was very quiet. We only saw a few birds and some whales.
Kelp Gull
These Humpback Whales were heading north. Mots of the ones we have seen recently have been going south.
Pelican
A White Bellied Sea Eagle flew past with a Raven escort.
We then spotted a Peregrine Falcon perched on the cliffs.
More Humpback Whales went past, these were going south.
It was now after four pm and we had been out in the cold wind for a fair while. We decided to wait until 4:20 to see if the Peregrine Falcon we had been watching sine 3:30 pm would take off. It seemed quite content to stay where it was.
Then, at 4:09, some action. It did a poo –
This is often a sign that it is about to take off, but the bridge settled back down. We waited.
Then at 4:19 pm, one minute before our leaving deadline, the Peregrine falcon finally started moving.
It was looking up.
The second Peregrine Falcon had arrived. It was the male, flying in at great speed.
The female took a submissive pose.
The male landed on top, and they mated.
Checking my photo exif date, showed the mating took the usual ten seconds.
The camel stayed where she was.
Then we had the best Humpback Whale activity of the visit –
And the female Peregrine Falcon was still perched in the same place at 4:35 pm when we finally left.
And, one last photo – a New Holland Honeyeater, seen on the walk back to Maroubra Beach.
