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Hi all,
I
know we have Little Eagle experts in our midst.
We are lambing at present and on Sat I was keeping
an eye on a ewe that had triplets. On checking her mid afternoon I noticed
a raptor fly from the general area to a tree about 20m from the ewe. I
watched it for a minute or so to see what was going to happen. It
flew away through the trees ( the area is old regrowth of stringy bark
and gum), I got a good look at it and decided it was a light phase
Little Eagle, it had a short tail that was quite fanned as it dodged
through the trees. It reminded me greatly of the photos that were recently
posted of the Fyshwick pair. I couldn't see a wing pattern as I lost sight
of the bird above the canopy. The only other option was a Whistling Kite
but I am very confident that it was a Little Eagle.
Why was it hanging around the ewe and lambs.
I don't believe it was to cause harm to the lambs but there was afterbirth about
so was this the target? or was it just a coincidence. What does the
literature say about Little eagle's taste for lambs or afterbirth. I
had seen a similar raptor in this area a few years ago but not since and I don't
think it coincided with lambing.
Where did it come from? Given the shortage of
this sp in and around the ACT, is it from a known breeding pair? My
guess is that it is about 12 kms to the Fyshwich Sewage Ponds from my place.
The afterbirth was untouched as of this afternoon
(Sun).
Graeme Clifton
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