After seeing the Peregrine Falcon my trip of 13 July, I was keen to see if it was still in the area, so I made another trip to Malabar Headland. Before you visit the headland you need to ensure the walking track is open. Unfortunately it is frequently closed because of shooting at the adjacent rifle range. So it is wise the check the NPWS Alerts Page for Malabar National Park.
I walked slowly out to Magic Point, and one there sat down to wait to see if any whales would pass by and to look out for sea birds.
I didn’t see too much, so I continued on towards Boora Head. Not far along the track, I looked up and spotted a nice Nankeen Kestrel hovering nearby. I was able to get a nice series of photos.
A little further out, I noticed some other walkers had stopped and were photographing something. I could not see anything, so asked them what was around – they said it was a whale. I waited and sure enough there was a whale swimming quite close to the cliffs.
Not far past this, I stopped at the place I had seen the Peregrine Falcon on my previous trip. It was not there, so I waited a while and was soon rewarded. It swooped in quickly and landed on a ledge. It then made a call and another Peregrine Falcon appeared. All this happened very quickly and by this time I had my camera ready.
One of the falcons was much bigger than the other. I have since learned that the female of a pair is larger than the male. One of them had also caught some food – a bird. I am not sure which one caught he food, but the larger one, the female, then started eating it.
The smaller one, flew off to the same close perch that I had seen it on the previous trip and then flew to a more distant perch.
I moved to a closer spot and was able to get some more photos.
I them walked to Boora Point, where I had a slow lunch – watching for more birds and any passing whales. I did see quite a few whales – but most of them were quite distant.
I saw quite a few Terns and Gannets hunting for fish.
I also saw two Nankeen Kestrels circling not far away.
On my return walk, I could not see the Falcons any more. Closer to Magic Point, I spotted the Nankeen Kestrel I had seen earlier – in about the same place. More photos.
Then as I was walking out to Magic Point, I heard a loud bang. A bit like the noise a speed boat makes when it hits the water. But looking out see showed this was made by a breeching whale, and it was quite close.
It was one of a pair of whales, one a cub, swimming north daily close to the headland. The larger whale breeched another few times and then they saw past the headland. Nice to watch.
I sat out on Magic Point for a while watching the whales head off and more Gannets flying around.
