Malabar Headland – 2 August 2022

The day before, on the Wattamolla walk, I had talked to Sue and Valerie about another visit to Malabar Headland. They were keen to join me and we decided Monday would be the best day. Thanks to Valerie for driving Sue and myself out to Maroubra Beach and back.

It turned out to be another interesting day. When we arrived at Maroubra Beach, we walked out to near Boora Point. Here is a New Holland Honeyeater seen on the walk out –

When we arrived at the nesting area, we soon spotted both Peregrine Falcons.

The second one was a lot easier to see from a close vantage point, so I waited nearby. It looked like it was about to take off –

Around 10:45 am, things started happening. One of the Peregrines flew to a different spot.

It was the female, and it soon started calling.

We had heard her plaintive call on our previous visit. We knew it was calling the male.

At 10:50 am the male arrived and they mated.

The act took 11 seconds.

The male then left the area. The female stayed for a while.

It then flew to a different ledge.

And then flew a long way out to sea.

We waited for a while, then decided to go for a walk to see if some orchids were out. Before we left, we spotted a seal –

No orchids, but when we came back, one of the Peregrine Falcons had returned.

And we saw another, or the same, seal –

Then the Peregrine Falcon started calling again. It must have been the female. We could not see the male, but it mist have been close.

The call was answered – the male arrived. This was at 12:59 pm.

And this time they also took 11 seconds.

The male flew off and perched further along the cliffs.

And not long after, it soon flew off.

The female flew out of sight too. It was not till about 45 minutes later that we saw them again. We first heard them, further along the cliffs, then we spotted both birds. One was on a lower ledge, and it had some prey.

The other was a little higher up watching.

We speculated that the male may have caught a bird, and then given it to the female. The prey looked like a Starling.

At 2:15 pm the female flew off with the prey to another ledge.

The male waited.

Then a few minutes later, at 2:20 pm the female flew back.

And again, it called.

And the male was ready.

And again, it took 11 seconds.

This time the female took off too.

One of them had flown out of sight. The other came back to the same spot. We watched it for a while.

We watched it for about 45 minutes. It was not until we left our vantage point that the Falcon took off and flew around. Perhaps it was looking to see where we had gone?

It had been amazing to watch these birds. For some of our visit, we met up with local walker Alana again – and she was able to share the observations.