I made another visit to the Northern Beaches with the principal aim to photograph the Peregrine Falcon family, that I had been photographing a lot lately. That is, aiming they young birds were still close to their nest area. But before I visited those cliffs, I first went to Rat Park to check the Ospreys that nest there.
At Rat Park, I spotted a distant Nankeen Kestrel –
The Osprey nest, high on a set of lights looked abandoned. I dont know whether it has been – perhaps there were birds out of sight – then nest is very high and it is difficult to see the birds unless they sit up near the edge. Or perhaps – young birds had fledged and been taken for a fishing lesson by their parents? I don’t know. So I didn’t stay too long. This Laughing Kookaburra was hunting in the grass –
I then made my way to the sea cliffs to look for the Peregrine Falcons. Early on, I saw one fly past and then perch out of sight on the cliffs a bit further on. And I later saw another, an adult, fly past in the other direction – and then it flew out of the area.
But nearby, I spotted two Nankeen Kestrels. They were hunting nearby.
They then flew to a headland area. I walked over and then scanned the cliffs. This was the area that I had seen one of the juvenile Peregrine Falcons being attacked by a Nankeen Kestrel on my previous visit. I could now see why. There were two juvenile Nankeen Kestrels and at least one parent getting food for them.
The one has a lizard –
And a juvenile flies down hoping for a tasty snack.
There are three Nankeen Kestrels in the photo below. I am not sure if the lizard was given to one of the juveniles, or if it was a juvenile that had it originally.
I stayed to watch the action.
This is one juvenile –
And the second juvenile –
And then some flying –
Then it started to do some rock climbing!
I then walked back to look for the Peregrine Falcons. An adult flew past at very high speed and then settled on the cliffs.
I could also hear a juvenile Peregrine Falcon calling out. It seemed to be after food. It later flew out from the cliffs and then flew towards the headland, where the Nankeen Kestrels had been. It circled around a bit, but then must have been spotted by the Kestrels. One flew out after it –
The juvenile Peregrine Falcon was much smaller than the Nankeen Kestrel, but it was not used to being attacked like this. It flew back at high speed.
And then it circled around to check if it was being pursued.
All of a sudden, it swerved.
And it looked a little worried.
The Nankeen Kestrel was swooping down at high speed.
The Peregrine Falcon went into its defensive – upside down position with its talons outspread.
It then flew back towards its nest area.
Meanwhile, its parent was still sitting. It was not worried about the altercation.
I moved to see if I could get some more photos of the juvenile.
It did some nice flying and then settled on a tree.
And then soon flew to a ledge.
It took off before I was ready, and then flew past at high speed, and seemed to fly out of the area.
During my visit, this was the only juvenile I saw out of the three.
Great photos, Dave. I feel sad for the lizard but such is life.