In the ACT there are three known territory holding pairs of Little Eagles,
and regular nestings, at Lower Molonglo, Mt Ainslie-Jerrabomberra Wetlands,
and CSIRO Ginninderra Experiment Station. One year ago a tracking device
was put on the male at Lower Molonglo. It sends 9 GPS fixes per day to a
server. From those we have seen that he does not visit Woden - he moves in
a radius of 10 km from the nest (mainly to the north and north east) and
further in the non-breeding period. The species is likely capable of
excursions out and back more than 100 km.
Sightings outside the areas mentioned (e.g. this one at Woden) are
potentially of great interest. While most will be just birds passing
through, there is the possibility that more breeding pairs remain to be
located in the ACT, e.g. on rural land. Also it is likely that there are
nests just to the north and east of the ACT but we know of only one example
so far. Little Eagles do not necessarily use the same nest from year to
year. This year active nests have been located in the territories at Lower
Molonglo and Mt Ainslie-Jerrabomberra Wetlands, but not yet at Ginninderra.
I was told there was once a nest at Urambi Hills, Kambah but not in recent
times and there once were nests at Mugga, Isaacs Ridge, Red Hill and
Gungahlin Hill before the nearby foraging habitat was converted to housing
for the growing human population.
Assistance with location of nests would be appreciated. This species is
declining nationally especially in the south east and the ACT. To conserve
it, a large study of movement behaviour is needed but to make one viable for
(say) a PhD student, there needs to be more nest sites located. Incubating
eagles are sensitive to disturbance so exact locations of nests should not
be transmitted in emails to large groups of people such as this list, but an
individual email or phonecall would be appreciated. Cheers, Don Fletcher.
Email:
Mobile: 0428 48 9990
-----Original Message-----
From: Philip Veerman
Sent: Wednesday, 2 November 2016 4:40 PM
To: 'John Leonard' <>;
Subject: Little Eagle over Woden
Makes sense in that raptors can and do cover a lot of ground......... That
does not add much to your ID. I sometimes get a Little Eagle over my Kambah
home. On last year's blitz day I watched one at one survey site at the east
end of Urambi Hills (just above the Actew pumping station or whatever it
is)...... though not there this year.
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From: John Leonard
Sent: Wednesday, 2 November, 2016 2:50 PM
To:
Subject: Little Eagle over Woden
Just glimpsed a few minutes ago a raptor flying at medium height north over
Woden.
Not a falcon or a WTE or a whistling kite (or a Raven). I'm pretty sure it
was a Little Eagle.
Does this make sense in terms of any of the remaining ACT LE territories?
John Leonard
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