As Ian Fraser
said once “I think this list is at its best when …”
[Here we may each insert our own preference]
Myself, I think the list is at its best when it accretes
information in linear fashion, without too much back-tracking or ‘I saw
it toos’. A case in point is the Little Eagles. So many
people mention having seen one at FSP without advancing what should be a more
developed body of knowledge about what is going on with the species locally.
I suppose I see one every second visit to FSP, which would be a sighting at
least every second week. Sometimes it is circling over the surrounding
open country, sometimes using as a vantage point the dead tree just north of
the divider between ponds 1 and 2 (see under ‘Maps’ on COG website).
- I have only seen the one bird
at a time, always a light morph. I would like to be able to say
confidently what sex it is, but without a size comparison I can only say
that ‘it’ seems intermediate between the two.
- Steve
Holliday has seen two birds at the one
time, both light morphs.
- Nobody has reported a definite nest
for the FSP LEs. In past years pairs have nested in the Newline
paddock, on the northern slope of Mount Mugga,
at East O’Malley etc. Apart from the curiosity of list
members, it would be of broader interest from the viewpoint of monitoring
this possibly declining species to learn of local breeding activity.
- Last year David Rosalky drew
attention to a possible LE nest above the old Duntroon dairy. This
looks like the right size to me. A related report was to the effect that
a single LE was seen near that nest during last season (possibly a young
from an earlier nesting).
- I would look for a nest in a
tall euc – either a very tall one or one on a slope with a good view.
It would be made from substantial sticks, much larger than used by a magpie,
possibly the size of a large raven nest.
- Attention could be drawn to the
nest by birds carrying sticks or leafy twigs, or birds perched in or
circling closely above the nest tree. Typically, passerines will harass
LEs even on or near their nest.
With a little practice there is no need for confusion with
the local (nesting) Whistling Kites. The light-morph LE has a contrasting
dark head and rusty tones in the breast. The LE also has a shorter tail,
and when caught by the sun a comparatively large grey-blue bill
