Raptors of the Northern Beaches – 2 July 2023

I spent a nice day visiting two spots on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. First Rat Park and Turimetta Head, then Long Reef Aquatic Reserve. I was on the hoping to spot Ospreys and other raptors. I was not disappointed.

First at Rat Park. Walking in, I soon spotted one of the Ospreys on the cross spar of its nest pole.

I was walking around to get a better view, when I noticed it had taken off. It was chasing away a Raven.

But the Raven flew after the Osprey!

And it was joined by another.

The Osprey flew back to its nest.

And I could see its mate was also on the nest.

I then walked up onto nearby Turimetta Head to see if I could spot the pair of Peregrine Falcons I had seen recently. I had no luck.

One last view of the Ospreys at Rat Park –

I caught a bus down the road to Long Reef. The tide as low, so I walked out onto the rock platform.

Here is a White-faced Heron –

There seemed to be a large number of Red-necked Stints foraging. I counted around 50.

I had lunch on the island, then walked back up to the lookout. I had a brief view of a Nankeen Kestrel, but it was flying away. I waited on top for a while. There were a lot of people looking for whales. I looked too, but did not spot any during my visit.

I had a brief chat with two other bird watchers, Janardinan and his wife, Margaret.

Next, a White-bellied Sea Eagle flew past and then headed far out to sea.

And here is one of two Nankeen Kestrels –

Then it was time for the Ospreys to appear. First one –

Then two.

And not one after, there were four Ospreys flying around.

At first, I stayed up near the lookout.

The tide was going up, making for good conditions for the Ospreys to hunt for fish in the shallow sea over the rock platform.

This one has caught a fish –

The Ospreys would often fly past the lookout with the aid of the air currents. It was quite a windy day.

It was time to move down to the beach level.

This Osprey is diving for a fish –

The Osprey was not successful.

It dived gain, but pulled out early –

Another Osprey –

This one had caught small fish –

Another Osprey dives –

Again – no fish.

Meanwhile, one flies past with a good sized fish –

Back on top of the lookout, there were still two Ospreys. One was having a hard time with the local Ravens.

But there seemed safety in numbers.

Despite cold windy conditions, this had been a very good day. It is very special to watch Ospreys hunting for fish.