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Hi all,
After school yesterday I thought I might go and see
a sparrowhawk nest that I had found near Cooleman Court, Weston.
So I left Rivett on foot, and was presently
halted near the Rivett shops by a beautiful male White-winged Triller
hawking for insects.
As I was thus watching, I noticed that I was
in fact standing 1 metre away from directly under a Willie Wagtail on its nest.
I hastily stepped a bit away, but it did not seem to mind the traffic barely 2
metres below it (it was almost right over the main path).
I continued onwards, but was again stopped by a
Yellow-rumped Thornbill feeding its young, again right over the path and so low
I could have touched the nest.
I made it to Cooleman Ridge, where the sparrowhawk
nest is in the casuarinas off the SW corner of the shopping plaza, about 50m in
from Weston Creek Auto Centre (or whatever it was). The bird was showing,
although not on its nest. Interestingly, I always seem to see only one bird, and
always the same one (probably female judging by size). It often appears to be
off the nest, but always hanging around within 30m. Attached is a photo of the
bird. You can see the bill has blood stains on it, and also the remains of
immature plumage high up on the breast.
Cheers,
Tobias
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