Freedom Day! After 106 days of lockdown with very restricted travel being permitted for exercise or recreation, I was keen to get out and see some “old friends” – the Peregrine Falcons that nest in Malabar Headland National Park. Even though the weather forecast was not good, I still headed out. I caught a bus to Kingsford, then another us to Malabar and walked out to near Boora Point, arriving before 8:30 am.
As soon as I arrived, I spotted a Peregrine Falcon. It was nice to know they were still around. I watched it to see if it would take-off.
It seemed pretty settled, so I started looking for whales. I saw one breeching, but it was a very long way away and by the time I got my camera pointing at it, it had stopped.
So back to the Falcon.
I was ready when it took off, but it launched itself away from me.
Then I saw the second Peregrine falcon perched on a lower ledge.
While I watched this one, I saw the first one fly back, probably with food for chicks. It went to the nest area. I didn’t try and photograph it, knowing that it was likely that the second one won probably follow it. It did and it took-off in a much better direction. But it was a fair way away.
Both Falcons, were then absent fo a while. Probably attending to chicks. Then one returned and a bit later the second. Again bother perching on separate ledges.
A Caspian Tern went past.
Then I noticed the lower Falcon was eating. Probably a small part of a bird.
It didn’t eat for long and then took off. Here is the higher Falcon –
While I was watching it an Osprey with a fish flew past.
The Peregrine Falcon did not react to the Osprey. Perhaps they saw that it already had prey and would not be likely to eat one of their chicks. Or perhaps they knew by this time that Ospreys would not be a threat.
This falcon moved around a bit. It had been raining on and off – so it was not possible to watch it constantly.
By this time, another bird photographer, Roscoe had arrived. He knew of the Peregrine Falcons from my blog, and he had been able to visit them during the lockdown. So he could fill me in with what I had missed.
While watching and siting out wet periods, we spotted a few distant whales.
With more rain on the way, I left the area around 3 pm. It had been good to see these amazing birds again and to know they were OK and were nesting again. I look forward to seeing their chicks.
One last photo of a passing Gannet –
Note that at present, due to current track work, access from Maroubra Beach past Magic Point is not possible.