The forecast was not ideal, and it turned out to be a bit wet and quite blustery, but the juvenile Peregrine Falcons are growing fast, so I’ve been taking more opportunities to visit the Headland.
This was a last minute decision so I was by myself. It was one of those rare weekend days that the Eastern Section of the Malabar Headland National Park is open to the public, and so I expected to see a lot of other people, but with the weather, it was relatively quiet.
I walked in from Malabar, and was soon at the Peregrine Falcon nest area. I soon spotted a juvenile resting on a ledge. I was about 10 am.
About 20 minutes later, the second juvenile flew in.
At the same time, the adult male also arrived and perched on one of his usual ledges.
The first chick had now awoken.
The other chick seemed to be wanting food. It flew around calling out.
Both of the juveniles then flew down to a ledge where I have often seen them eating. They both waited there.
I then sheltered under an overhang, out of the rain. The juveniles seemed to not mind getting wet.
Looking down, I could see a fish near one of them. Fish are not normally part of the diet of a Peregrine Falcon. This fish did not look eaten or pecked at, so it was probably collected by one of the juveniles. They often play with sticks and other objects. See more on this later.
One of the juveniles then took off and flew towards Boora Point. The second one soon followed.
Then the adult male took off and followed them.
I walked to Boora Point and soon spotted the male, sitting on the clifftop.
I then saw one of the chicks perched about 100m away. And as I approached I saw the second one nearby.
Here is the first –
And the second –
They both flew a short distance.
And another short flight.
Not long after, they both flew into Long Bay and I lost sight of them. I headed back to their father.
He too flew off into Long Bay.
I waited a while and a juvenile flew in at high speed.
Then there was more rain, and I again sheltered in an overhang. After lunch, I waited for the birds to reappear.
I spotted a juvenile on the north side of the Headland.
It collected a stick to play with.
The wind strength had increased a lot, and became very gusty. The bird had trouble flying.
Later, a juvenile appeared with a drink can.
It must have found the drink can in the bushes.
Next, the adult male appeared, and had some prey.
I don’t know if the prey was given to juvenile or was cached. But the male soon reappeared without the prey.
He then did some nice fast flying.
I went back to look at the feeding ledge where I had seen the juveniles waiting for food earlier. I saw one juvenile there, and I could also see the drink can.
The juvenile was calling out. I think it was hungry.
Next, a number of White Ibis flew past.
The juvenile took off, as though it was going to attack them.
It’s father flew after the juvenile, and I think probably advised the juvenile to call off its attack.
Then the adult and juvenile interacted –
Then the birds settled back on the cliffs, out of sight. I later saw a juvenile fly out with something unusual.
It looked like it had found a bit of plastic rubbish.
Then the adult male flew past at high sped and dived into the rifle range area. A minute or two later it appeared with prey.
I assume the juvenile was then fed. I could not find where they had gone. I think, in the song winds, they had found some sheltered spots omit of sight. I then started back for home.