I spent an enjoyable day in the Northern Beaches area, my first visit there for a long time. During the day, I visited three sites – and at each I was able to photograph some nice raptors.
I caught a B-line bus from Wynyard to Warriewood and walked the short distance to Rat Park. As I approached I could see an Osprey perched below their nest. The other Osprey, the male, was sitting higher near a light.
The lower Osprey (the female), was almost finished eating a fish.
Also in the park was a Nankeen Kestrel hunting for food.
Then the female Osprey decided to fly. It went for a short fight, around a loop, then returned to the top of the nest.
The Osprey seemed settled, to I returned to watch the Kestrel.
It was not the only hunter. A White-faced Heron was also looking for prey.
And this pair of Galahs seemed to just want to have fun.
The Osprey were still settled.
And the Kestrel was still hunting.
I could happily have stayed longer, but I wanted to check out some other sites. So I walked back to the bus stop and caught a bus to the turn-off to Long Reef. I walked out to the lookout. I knew when I arrived that there must be some interesting birds about because there were three or four other bird photographers around. I soon spotted a pair of Osprey perched on the steep slope.
Then a third Osprey cruised past with the remains of a fish.
Then followed a nice session of bird photography.
I knew one of the other photographers, Gavin. I had seen him the day before at Emu Green. He had gone down to the rock platform in order to get a better view of a perched Osprey. I went down too, but the tide was quite high, and didn’t go as far around (it would have been a wade).
The Osprey took off and was then joined by another.
One seemed to catch a lump of sea-weed.
Then they both settled down on the small area of sand not covered by the high tide. We were able to get quite close without disturbing the birds.
Every now and then, one of them would go for short flight, land for a time, and then return.
I am not sure if these birds were a pair, or if they were courting, or they could perhaps have been siblings.
They settled on a bush part way up the cliffs, so we climbed back up the path.
We had to wait a long time for another flight.
We were hoping that they would hunt for fish. They both seemed to be studying the very clear, shallow water on the rock platform below. But perhaps they had already eaten? The bot eventually flew off in different directions. While waiting for some action, I had had my lunch, so I headed off to the third site – the sea cliffs to the south.
I was now on the lookout for some Peregrine Falcons. A local pair had raised three chicks which had fledged during the lockdown.
On the way to their nest area, I spotted some distant whales.
Then I spotted two of the three juvenile Peregrine Falcons.
The Falcons seemed rather advanced and will probably soon leave their parents territory.
It had been an outstanding day of bird photography.