It was time to head out to Malabar Headland to see if the Peregrine Falcons had reunited for the new breeding season. Sue could make it, but Valerie had other commitments. So I met Sue at Maroubra Beach and after a coffee stop, we walked out onto the headland.
At first things were fairly quiet. We saw the usual resident New Holland Honeyeaters –
And some Superb Fairy-wrens –
There was no sign of any Peregrine Falcons. We had scanned along the cliffs with binoculars, looking at their usual perches. So we sat down in sunny spot and waited.
Australasian Gannet
We were moving to another spot, when we bumped into Karen, a walker, and a previous colleague of mine. She was coming the other way, and told us a pod of whales was just cruising past, not too far out. We looked out, and not only could we see them but we could hear them. Three Humpback Whales –
Out at Boora Point, we saw these Pied Cormorants fly past –
One of the hunting Australasian Gannets –
And a Pelican –
Australasian Gannet
Humpback Whale
And this funny aircraft flew past. We wondered if it was spotter plane for the whale boats.
Australasian Gannet
We then met up with Alana, who was on her daily walk around the headland. We moved back to the landslide area, and just them Sue spotted a Peregrine Falcon fly past and land on the cliffs nearby.
It was the female.
I was taking some photos, then a passing whale started breaching. It was a fair way out, so I kept my camera on the Peregrine Falcon. We then saw a second Peregrine Falcon fly past higher up heading towards Boora Point. Would it return or would this one take off and join it?
after a while it took off.
It flew over towards Magic Point.
Next, a pod of Dolphins –
With binoculars, I spotted the Peregrine falcon. It was perched on the cliffs near Magic Point.
It later flew back close to us, but landed on ledge out of sight. It later flew back towards Dead Mans Gulph and out of sight. We continued walking slowly in that direction, but didn’t see it again.
New Holland Honeyeater
And we had seen this boat moving in and out from the coast all day – involved on some sort of survey.
