Raptors at Long Reef – 13 January 2022

I had been meaning to head up to Long Reef on the Northern Beaches again but the weather forecast recently had not been good or the tide not right or the surf conditions were forecast to be too dangerous to go onto the rock platform. But this time I had at least the right tide and the right surf. The weather stayed reasonable for most of my visit.

I photographed mainly raptors on my visit – and made the most of three that were flying for short times.  But when I arrived, the first bird I saw at the lookout was this White-faced Heron flying past.

I then descended to the rock platform and walked around to see if I could find any Osprey. I spotted one straight away through my binoculars. I walked closer to it.

I sat on a boulder nearby waiting to see if the Osprey would take off. It  did look quite settled. Then it decided to stretch its wings.

I thought it was going to take off, but no, it settled back down.

Aboute ten minutes later, some more movement. My camera was ready.

Again it settled back on its perch. A short time later, some passing Crested Terns were making a lot of noise, so I turned around to see what the fuss was about. I could not see any Sea Eagles or other birds, but when I turned back to the Osprey, it had gone! After waiting patiently about an hour, I had missed its take-off. The only consolation was that it did circle around and fly past.

I was hoping it would hunt for a fish, but it cruised past and left the area. Perhaps it had already eaten before I arrived? I did not see it or any other Osprey during my visit.

I then walked around the north side of the headland to see if I could spot any Kestrels. But not far along, I spotted a juvenile Peregrine Falcon. It was awkwardly perched in a small dead tree.

I didn’t think it would stay on this perch for too long, and sure enough it soon took-off.

It flew off around the headland. I walked back that way but could not spot it.

By now the tide was low enough to go onto the rock platform and look for migratory birds. There seemed to be very few. I saw this Pacific Golden Plover and there were two other smaller birds near it, but they all suddenly flew off.

By this stage the weather was looking a bit stormy.

I then made my way to where some Sooty Oystercatchers were. I thought there may be some migratory birds near them (safety in numbers). I did spot a few that I had spooked and only saw them when they took off. Perhaps Stints. So I turned my camera to the Sooty Oystercatchers  –

It was now time for lunch and I headed back up to the lookout. The storm seemed to be approaching. But the radar showed I still had a while before any rain. But the sound of thunder was a bit disconcerting – I was on an exposed high point that could be hit by lightning.

While I was eating, a Nankeen Kestrel flew past. I put my food down and picked up my camera.

It was hunting for prey and soon moved away, but it later returned, and at one time there were two Kestrels flying. One flew past –

I was fairly happy with my photos and thought I had done well considering that each raptor had only been close for short periods. By now, The rain was starting so I thought it was time to head to the bus stop. Later there was a lot of rain.