The weather forecast was not the best, but I was keen to be outdoors, so I headed to a location on the sea cliffs of Sydney to see if any Peregrine Falcons were about. I was very fortunate on my visit, as I not only spotted a pair of Peregrine Falcons, but I also was able to observe their chicks. This is very special, but I did feel I was intruding and should not have been there, so I did not stay very long.
My favourite place for photographing Peregrine Falcons are the cliffs of Malabar Headland. The clifftop are fairly open there and the birds have a large playground. The ledges they choose for their scrapes (nests) are hidden below overhangs and this allows them to safely bring up their young without human interference being likely.
But there are a lot of other clifftop sites along the cliffs of Sydney and Royal National Park where Peregrine Falcons breed, and with Malabar Headland being closed for long periods due to shooting, I decided to visit another set of cliffs.
I had visited these cliffs earlier in the season, and although I had not seen a Peregrine Falcon, I had seen evidence that they were present – their streaks of white poo daubing the rock ledges.
This visit, when I arrived I spotted a Peregrine Falcon perched along the cliffs. It was an adult female.
It soon took off –
And it landed on a ledge that was partly obscured.
A bit later it went on another short flight.
It landed back near where it had been earlier. Then something strange happened. A Peregrine Falcon suddenly took off from that same spot. I assumed it was the same bird.
It flew away, but then there was another Peregrine Falcon on that same bit of ledge .And it was the female. So, it must have been the male that had taken off.
The female then went along the ledge a bit, and partly hidden by bushes were some chicks.
There were three chicks. And the mother was feeing them.
This was amazing to watch. The chicks look like they were about two weeks old, so perhaps have another two weeks to go before they fledge.
Then the mother flew off to a more distant ledge.
The mother then took off again.
She flew past at high speed and then circled around.
She landed again. I thought that the mother did not like people being around and as I was about to leave, one of the chicks came out along the ledge.
Then it was joined by a second chick.
Already these chicks are exercising their wing muscles.
Now it was time to leave.
The mother took off again and flew past, close to me at high speed. Clearly she did not want me there.
As I left, I observed her moving to another spot on the cliffs.
If I visit this location again, I will wait till the chicks are a lot larger.