Malabar Headland – 17 August 2023

Sue joined me for another great day out on Malabar Headland. As usual. we were on the lookout for Peregrine Falcons.

At the start of the walk from Maroubra Beach, near the National Park entrance, we spotted a hovering Nankeen Kestrel –

It was a fair layaway from us though, and never came close. Two Pied Cormorants cruised past –

We were looking at the Nankeen Kestrel again.

Andrew also noticed near it was a Black-shouldered Kite.

They had short skirmish.

On the walk out towards Boora Point, we saw this Red-browed Finch obtaining seeds from the Casuarina fruit.

During the day, we did spot a few distant whales. They all seemed to be heading south.

Here is a Jacky Dragon enjoying the sun.

We had reached the Peregrine Falcon nesting area around 11:20 am, but it was not till 1:50 pm that we saw our first Peregrine Falcon. It was the male flying past.

It circled around and then perched on a boulder on the cliffs.

About 2:10 pm it took off again.

But then landed nearby, back on the cliffs.

A few minutes later it took off again, and flew past us.

And circled back.

And another turn past us.

Meanwhile, we were joined by Adam, another bird photographer and his brother Marion. Then a pod of three Dolphins went past.

At about 3 pm we noticed the male Peregrine Falcon perched back on the cliffs –

It then flew out of sight. At 3:30 pm, a Peregrine Falcon flew past at an astonishingly fast speed. It was the female. Then the male joined her. For the next two minutes we witnessed an amazing flying display.

Then both birds vanished. I think one of them may have gone back to sit on eggs in the nest. We waited another hour or so, and then started walking back towards Maroubra Beach. on the way, we bumped into Alana, on her daily walk.

At the small dyke at Magic Point, I spotted a Reef Egret lower down –

This had been a good day, but like a lot of days on the headland at the moment, we did a lot of waiting for action. When the Peregrines appeared, they did some nice flying, but only for relatively short periods. But the weather was very pleasant, and it was not too hard to sit back and take it easy.

Many thanks to Sue for company during the day.