Month: August 2026

Saturday Night Post: Catching up With Harry and Sally

Posted in Brown Falcon, Werribee River ParkTagged , 8 Comments

Last season, we managed to meet a pair of Brown Falcon working on the Werribee Riverine.

Had high hopes for them at the time that they might nest locally. I didn’t share here on the blog until I was sure, but they ended up working away. So i posted a few encounters on Flickr.

The birds had been working in a part of the Park that was at that time closed for repairs to a bridge and tracks caused by a flood about 18 months before. So the Browns had been able to enjoy a human-free environment.
The other intrigue is that both birds were light morph. The male particularly has a lovely underwing scalloped feather marking. The female, also is quite distinctive as her eye teardrops extend under her beak.

EE and I had been to a local event and decided to take a ‘quick’ walk down along the river. No cameras of course. As we came to the river we saw two Falcons hard at work hovering in the wind. They both landed close enough for us to get good views and we were sure it was Sally and Harry.
Did I mention no cameras. Out came the ‘fones. To no avail really.

We were back a few days later, good weather and cameras ready.
We spotted Sally on a post at the top of the river cliff. And decided to follow up the walking ramp to see if we could get close.
As we reached the top of the ramp, Harry flew in, and landed on the handrail not more than about 10 metres in front of us.
Freeze
If we moved would he fly?

Freeze.

He looked over the rail onto the escarpment below, and it was obvious that he had something in mind. There is no telling Brown Falcon time. It is a slow pace, and he wouldn’t strike until he was sure of the move.

We waited.
After a few minutes, a second set of wings appeared behind the railing and Sally dropped in, either encourage him, or to move him on. They set together for a few seconds and then he left. Flying far out over the river flat.

There is no doubt both birds knew we were there. In fact the longer we all stood there the more obvious it became that, not only did they see us, but they were not in the least fussed as they had more important Falcon business to attend to.

She watched. And after what seemed like 10 minutes, suddenly she wasn’t there. She had dropped straight down from the rail and began to consume her catch. It was so fast, that I missed it completely.

The riverine is a large are, with many old trees and some farmland behind. If they choose to nest in the area, its unlikely we’ll find where.
However it was good to be so close to these very impressive birds

(Click on any image for a larger view)

Enjoy

Harry arrives on handrail
Harry sweeping the area
Locking in on a possible catch.
Note the wings coming behind.
Sally Arrives
Sally settles alongside Harry
Perhaps she is too close for comfort
Her teardrop marks extend under the beak
Sizing up her opportunities
She dropped straight down from the handrail. Pounced, and devoured the prey.

Saturday Night Post: We’re Just Friends

Posted in Saturday Night Post, Whistling KiteTagged , 2 Comments

I heard the calls while way down the track.

Hard to miss them really. The loud rolling whistling calls, so distinctive of Whistling Kites.

The two birds were sitting together on the top of an old tree. Long since dead, its grey outstretched branches against a similarly sad, grey sky.

I wondered if they would fly before I was close enough for a few frames.

And they sat.
There is no telling how many ways they can turn their heads left and right and behind. Inquisitive by nature and survival they only looked toward each other a few times.

Several Black Kites were also in the air in the area, and one came down for a closer look, hoping perhaps to put them to wing. But they stood their ground.

A few minutes later all ideas of friendship were over as one jumped to land on the same spot as the other.
It deferred and the friendly moment was gone!

Enjoy

Saturday Night Post: Invader

Posted in Saturday Night Post, Superb Fairy-wrenTagged , 3 Comments

It is often said that a weed is a plant out of place.
If ever there was such plant that was the epitome of that statement then surely in the Australian landscape the African Boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum) is a master class.

Originally introduced into Australia some time in the mid-1800s, it was planted by early settlers as a house and garden plant.
And.
Like so many other introduced species, it not only flourished but quickly spread across the country.

Hard to eradicate, evasive as it grows into huge impenetrable copses that make the ground unusable, poisonous to people, and rapid growing it is a bane to agricultural areas.
But.
For many small Australian birds, it provides, shelter and in some cases food. Many parrots find the berries attractive, and somehow their constitution is not affected by the toxins. And they reward the plant by carrying the seeds to a new location and expel them to begin a new colony. Each fruit can, so I’m reliably informed have up to 70 or more seeds.

Having worked, when I much younger, at digging and burning the pest, I have fair share of disdain for the plant.

I was walking down a dry creek line, lamenting as I went about the numbers of bushes I had to walk around to avoid, when I approached two bushes, each about 1.5 metres in diameter.
Suddenly out of the bushes jumped several families of Superb Fairywrens.

All of a chatter because their quiet kingdom had been disturbed by my presence.
The boxthorn was alive with the little chattering defenders.
I counted at least four males in breeding plumage, three females who were ready to tell everyone of their displeasure, and perhaps five, or six young, first year, males who had not attained breeding status.

For a long time it was thought that one male had a ‘harem’ of females because of the presence of so many brown birds in a colony, I think it was John Gould himself who named them “Mormon birds”. As it turns out the sex life of the wren is quite another story. The females generally play the field and visit neighbouring males. The chances of a male looking after a growing family from his gene pool is highly unlikely. Don’t feel bad for him, his contributions are in the bushes of the other clans.
It seems to be the wren way of keeping the gene pool healthy

So here are four from the morning’s encounter.

Saturday Night Post: SkyJinks

Posted in Brown Falcon, Saturday Night PostTagged 2 Comments

It has been a fairly lean time for bird photography of late.

The cold weather might have something to do with it. But there does seem to be a shift in populations for many of the ‘usual’ suspects.

There is however a notable shift in the conditions that seems to occur just after the winter (southern) equinox. Now it might just be my observation powers of course, but for example.

For it seems to me as soon as the days begin to get just a little bit longer, the ravens begin their building projects. I’ve never seen one at work carrying sticks before the equinox. The local Magpie clans begin to seperate. Their autumn and winter truce is over and now there are territories to expand, time to send unwanted young packing, and the hunt for a suitable nesting location is selected.

Early trees, like almonds begin to push out buds soon they will become covered in the ‘snow’ of blossoms.

And across the paddocks the Brown Falcons are rebuilding their pair bonds or perhaps begin to ‘blossom’ new pair bonds.
Pair bonding among Browns is quite awesome to watch. It involves flying about the territory, at great speed and with many different ‘dances’ across the sky.
It is like Spring has indeed given them a spring in their wings.

It is also accompanied by loud rolling cackling calls, which must be song, if only I knew the words.

I heard them coming. Very high up and at great speed. When suddenly the male dropped down wings tucked in tight in a stoop to pull out and then zig-zagged toward where the female had disappeared behind a tree line.

Sadly I only managed a couple of his rolling flicks, but its enough to show his amazing airborne agility.

We sort of think of Browns as slow moving, direct flight birds. But when Spring is in the air and his best behaviour is on show the action turns thick and fast.

Enjoy.