We made a trip to Point Cook with Mr An Onymous to have a look at the growing Brown Flacon clutch.
Managed a sunny day, and the young have been out of the nest for a few days and quite adept as flyers. Also very quickly adopting the Brown Falcon sit and contemplate the world stance as well.
Here are a few from the outing
Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER - --doesn't mean I'm LOST 
What a fabulous series of shots, David. I do think that standing on your sibling’s head to reach the front of the queue is being a bit pushy!
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Ha!, I didn’t see it happening, and it wasn’t until I looked at the shots on the screen that the action became apparent. I think they take it all in good faith. The one flying off got the next delivery, and the one of the far left refused a morsel when offered, so they do know the system
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A beautifully captured series in the life of the Falcons David, I always marvel at the clarity of your photos. I always wonder if any of the siblings misses out and ceases to thrive if they are not forward in coming forward for a feed. I know with other raptors this can be the case.
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Hello Ashley, hmm, I doubt if I understand the mechanics of it all. Most of what I have is anecdotal.
My experience is with Hobbys, Browns, Black-shouldered Kites, and Wedgetailed Eagles. I also had several seasons with Nankeen Kestrels.
I know that Peregrines and Wedgetails will favour young and abandon others. I wonder if it doesn’t have something to do with the amount of eggs laid, and the percentage of fertile and hatched eggs. Sometimes their luck is higher and they get more than they bargained for.
We had a Black-shouldered Kite that successfully raised 4 young but that is way above the average.
Interestingly enough one year the Kestrels hatched two young, and about 10-12 days later she hatched one more egg from the clutch. By the time the first ones flew, the third was beginning to get enough feathers to move about. The parents went to a lot of trouble to make sure it was well fed.
One of the earlier birds injured itself, and I was pretty sure it would be abandoned. But, the male took it as a personal challenge and flew in twice as much food, (well, more than the others), for several days, and it seemed to recover and join the its siblings.
The difference in age (10days?) was only apparent until the third one flew and then they carried on for several weeks before disappearing. Like these falcons, they spent quite a lot of time together and I’ve a sequence of shots where the older bird fed the ‘runt’.
One thing I didn’t mention here is that the female talks to the young as she feeds them, it is more a cooing, (if a Brown Falcon could do that!) and is quite motherly or tender. I’ve not heard it before so was very intrigued.
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Interesting David, thanks for the info. I am discovering the more I read and observe bird behaviour they are not unlike us humans, having various personalities and life skill variations, making them individual rather than what was previously thought by many that they just do everything from instinct.
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A wonderful series of images, David. Great to see the behaviour at feeding time.
Amazing how Mum knows whose turn it is to be fed.
Your time with Cassia and family has been richly rewarding.
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Thanks David, sometimes the universe and its inhabitants all line up in the right way.
Makes a change
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