The value of bird-aus and its contributors. I would like to thank Philip
Veerman for his interest and taking the time to view the video footage of my
original posting.
Without it, I would have continued to believe my identification was correct.
Hi All,
On 6th Feb 2003, I posted a sighting (see below) under the heading "Werribee
BOP query" in which I mentioned the above birds perched together. The only
questions in my mind was the size of the Sea-Eagle and the close proximity
to one another.
No interest/query was shown at the time, so I put it down as an unusual
occurrance and never gave it another thought. Until recently.
Philip Veerman wrote to me recently asking if, with the passage of time, I
had any doubts about my identification. As I still had the video footage, I
replayed it a number of times and apart from the above query re size, I was
quite confident with my original posting.
I offered to forward the footage to Philip for his opinion and with Philip's
reply in hand (see below) and surrounded by field guides, I replayed the
tape.
I now realise my SE was in fact a Whistling Kite.
I am quite familiar with Sea-Eagles (or thought I was!) having visited
Mallacoota on numerous occasions, but the pale (I thought white) head/chest
and darker wings made me immediately think Sea-Eagle!.
No excuse for a wrong identification of a bird I thought I couldn't mistake.
-----Original Message-----
From: Marlene Lyell <>
Hi All,
Driving down towards the hide at Werribee today I was surprised to see
a juvenile Swamp Harrier sitting next to a moulting White-bellied Sea-Eagle.
All the field guides say the Sea-Eagle is larger than the Harrier, but this
eagle looked smaller. But it had a white head and body with darker wings.
Is this unusual behaviour to have different species so close?. When I
pulled up, the Harrier appeared to be feeding the Sea-Eagle!.
I have video footage of the birds sitting together although not the
Harrier possibly feeding the Eagle. I found it quite fascinating. A
digital video would've been handy.
Saw all the other species mentioned on b-a over the last few weeks.
Happy birding
Marlene
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