We have of late been following the courtship and mating activities of a pair of Brown Falcons.
You are probably familiar with Cassia, of Cinnamon, and her pale morph mate, Alistair.
If she has a nesting location chosen, it’s still very much a secret, and she certainly is not showing any signs of incubating. However they are both favouring two trees and no doubt we’ll know soon enough
Cassia, of Cinnamon is relatively comfortable with our presence and has been known to fly onto branches near where I’m standing or sitting. Alistair on the other hand has a zero tolerance program and will take to wing well before a close approach.
The other morning, for reasons, Brown Falcon, he decided to fly out around the treelines in the two close paddocks and made several circuits that gave us some lovely views of his wing and tail details and of his masterful airmanship.
I don’t think there was any aggresion, and he seemed more to be performing for her, before flying off to hunt for a morsel or two to bring in as she waited on the very top of an Umbrella pine. (Pinus pinea)
Not much to comment on, so enjoy the circuits.
Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER doesn't mean I'm LOST 
Perhaps you have gained a measure of his trust, David.
A fine set of images that are wonderful to view.
Hopefully they will have a successful nesting.
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hi David, yes, not often I get any good views on a Sunny day with this fellow, so it was a bit of a bonus.
I suspect it was a bit of a territory declaration to a pair of very mobile Hobbys.
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Beautiful flight captures David !
I do love the Brown Falcon plumage it is so well patterned, and is especially attractive when they splay their tail and wings together, as your images display. Interesting to see the grey morph, at first I thought is it leucistic ? since I have been so accustomed to their golden brown colours, and have never seen the grey morph.So good to see it, so I will be on the lookout. I am not versed in their plumage tone to know how common the morph is and if it is geographically placed. Hopefully you will see the fruit of the nesting process even if you do not see the nest. Enjoy your week.
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Hello Ashley, he is not the ‘whitest’ of Browns that I’ve seen, and there used to be some shots of a bird in South Australia that was ‘pure white’ and it was thought to be a Nankeen Kestrel, but the legs and size determined it to be a Brown. But not leucistic.
Here they are very much the bird of the open plain and come in just about the full mix of colours from mottled white to intense rich dark chocolate. (so much as to be at first sight confused as Black Falcon)
The other variation is cere and eye-ring colour Blue/grey being the major colour, but we see quite a number with yellow as this bird is
I think colonisation and making fences across the landscape has helped the bird as its given it plenty of perching possibilites in the open plains.
As a young kid, we used to play a game of “spot the falcon” as we drove about the countryside. It was often possible to see a dozen or more in a day’s journey. I don’t think that happens anymore.
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Thanks David, their plumage coloration is quite interesting, sad many of our raptors are not seen much anymore.
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Such a beautiful series of shots. Thanks for sharing the experience.
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Hi David… Alistair might be keeping you at arm’s – or wing’s – length, but he’s turned on a beautiful flight display for you and – I suppose – for his Mate…! A beautiful flying display from Alistair, and beautiful photography from you…!
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Hello Lance. It’s somehow in the nature of the bird. Some Falcons can be quite comfortable with my presence. And occasionally I’ll get called on that over-famillierization. But most are like this male and won’t think twice about moving away.
I also think the problems people have in the sneak up stealth approach is the bird sees them coming for miles.
I usually on do the close approaches to birds that I spend some “Brown Falcon” time sitting with.
Like humans each is their own challenge
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Beautiful images David. It is lovely seeing how playful they are as children, playing together, and that even the fact they may be of a different family to the other. You certainly scored well here, we hardly ever see raptors , at present the Powerful Owl has been our sighting as it nests in several places.
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Hello Ashley. Ahh figured it out. I’ll let it stand rather than cutting pasting to the young kite post. WP seems just as frustrating as ever. Keeps us on our toes
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