Nature along the Cooks River – 7 and 8 November 2016

I spent a pleasant few hours on Monday and Tuesday on the banks of the Cooks River between Dulwich Hill and Canterbury photographing the wildlife.

On the Monday, I happened to bump into Ken, who had come along the week before to photograph the Tawny Frogmouth chicks. He was in the area and had a bit of time spare to he thought it could be spent along the river again. 

I had already spotted one set of  Tawny Frogmouths, and had gone a little further when I met Ken. We both looked in vain for the second set of Tawnys. These were the ones we had photographed already. Ken did spot a young family of Butcher Birds being fed. This was interesting to watch. The parent had caught a small lizard, but the they must have pulverised the meat somehow to make it suitable for the young.

We then went downstream to photograph the Tawny Frogmouths that I had already located.

After this, we crossed over to the Cup and Saucer Creek Wetland. There was not too much action inside the wetland area, but outside there was. High on the high tension transmission line pylon, Ken spotted a raptor devouring a bird. It was a Peregrine Falcon and it looked like it was eating a pigeon. We watched it for about 30 minutes. At one point, a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo flew down and landed nearby. I am not sure if it wanted some of the dead bird or if it was trying to scare off the raptor. However the falcon seemed to ignore it and just kept on ripping its prey apart.

Next, as we were leaving the wetland, I noticed a turtle just outside the wetland area. It seemed to be digging a hole – perhaps to bury eggs? The turtle hid in its shell, so we waited nearby very quietly. It later walked slowly off back into the scrub surrounding the wetland.

I have seen the same turtle (or one the same species – an Eastern Long Necked Turtle) lying on a rock out of the water in one of the wetland ponds. This time when we walked past, on that rock was a different species of turtle. This one had a short neck. It soon dived into the water.

Before leaving we also photographed an Egret, a Pelican, a Pied Cormorant and a Striated Heron.

The next day, I returned. This time I could only find one chick and one parent of the first set of tawny Frogmouths, and none of the second family. The parent seemed to have one eye closed. Perhaps injured or a disease?

There were quite a few other birds around. A lot of Corellas, Lorikeets, a few Sulphur Crested Cockatoos and a family of Willy Wagtails.

It was interesting to watch the young Willy Wagtails getting fed –

I later moved further down the river to the Tempe Wetlands.