Malabar Headland – 2 December 2021

My previous visit to Malabar Headland had been quite disappointing in terms of seeing the resident Peregrine Falcons. I have been watching this breeding pair now for four seasons and the number of chicks they have had that have fledged each season has been 1, 3, 2 and now 1 this year. I have found that multiple chicks have been a lot better for photography because the chicks seem to fly together not far from the nest area. With only one chick, a parent seems to take the chick to more remote places to tech it how to hunt, so visits can be a bit hit or miss. This visit turned out to be relatively good.

On the walk in, I stopped to photograph a Rufous Whistler –

I arrived at Boora Point around 11 am, but it was not till around noon that the Peregrine Falcons appeared. Here is the juvenile –

And a parent –

They then put on good flying show.

Here the juvenile does a very fast stoop.

A second parent makes a brief appearance.

Here the juvenile is chasing a parent –

The action was over by about 12:35 pm. I did not see the juvenile again. I only spotted a parent perched in one of the usual spots. This photo was taken at 1:23 pm.

Walking around the cliffs I did see some other animals. First a Jacky Dragon –

And this is likely to be a Tiger Snake (Thanks to Ken Griffiths for the i.d.).

And some military aircraft passed by. This one, I could look up “CV-V” and it wa a WWII Curtis Kittyhawk.

And just before I left at 2:30 pm, a pod of Dolphins swam by.