After a very good visit the previous afternoon, I was keen for another visit, and this time I was joined by Sue and Valerie.
We walked out from Maroubra Beach at about 1:30 pm, and we reached the clifftop where we expected the Peregrine Falcons to be around 2:15 pm. There we met Biggles, another bird photographer. A first the Peregrine falcons were fairly quiet – perhaps the juveniles were resting?
One of the juveniles did fly past around at 2:46 pm.
But things heated up at 3:10 pm, when a parent arrived with prey.
The two excited juveniles flew up to meet their parent. And then the second parent joined them.
Then one of the juveniles took part in a mid-air food exchange –
The prey was almost too large for the juvenile.
The juvenile took the prey to a large ledge.
I think the prey may have been too much for the juvenile, so one of the parents then took charge and started preparing the food.
Biggles and myself walked over closer and approached their ledge.
But, we were too close! We had not meant to disturb the birds in their very important feeding. The juvenile at the prey flew off in alarm.
The prey looked to be a Fluttering Shearwater.
We quickly left the ledge.
Some of the Peregrine Falcons then did a nice aerial flying display.
Moving away, we later saw the male adult perched on a ledge.
And nearby, one of the juveniles was perched.
The other juvenile had returned to the prey –
The other juvenile appear to be calling to its father for food.
We had to wait till about 4:30 pm for some more flying by both juveniles –
And at 5:40 pm, we saw an adult take the remaining food to another ledge.
And then quietened down. We assumed the adult had taken the remaining food to the second juvenile.
Alana had joined us by this time, and we relaxed on the clifftop and chatted. During the next half hour, we had the occasional flypasts by one of the juveniles.
And about 5:15 pm, we saw it resting – perched on the clifftop.
We then headed back to Maroubra Beach.