Hi David
I trust you are still monitoring this email address - if so, I can wish you all the best for 2026!
One recent chatline post did not come through to me – noticeably, as it was the post describing the Wedge-tailed Eagle sighting reported by Julie Hotchin and myself. Julie posted this at 5:59
pm yesterday, Wed 07 Jan, as shown in the copy forwarded to me that I have inserted below. Interestingly, the bioacoustics version of the post is dated 06:58:35 that day for some reason
https://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/html/canberrabirds/2026-01/msg00010.html
Any idea why this post never reached me? I received all the others that day. Are there some standard things I should check?
Regards
Steve
Dr Steve Read
Biologist and Forest Scientist
26/32 Bunbury Street, Stirling ACT 2611
m("gmail.com","steve.read123");">
0408 170915
- - - - - - - - - - -
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Julie Hotchin via Canberrabirds
Sent: Wednesday, 7 January 2026 5:59 PM
To:
Subject: [Canberrabirds] The Kill
Yesterday morning while birding at Parkwood Road, overlooking the dam on the NSW side, Steve Read and I observed a Wedge-tailed Eagle hunting. While it is not uncommon
to see these majestic birds dining on roadkill, this was the first time I had witnessed an actual kill.
A pair of eagles were flying low on the south side of the road above the dam. Suddenly, one almost completely dark bird swooped onto an Australian Wood Duck that
was grazing on the grass, flew a short distance with the duck, then landed, pinned the hapless duck to the ground and started to pluck its prey. After a few minutes it moved to a large tree trunk where it started eating the duck's entrails. The other bird,
also dark but with a distinct orange ruff, stood some metres away. It edged forward slowly but didn't approach the feeding bird, and was mobbed by two magpies. After a few more minutes both eagles flew off, one with the duck in its talons.
Our eBird checklists are: https://ebird.org/checklist/S292708891 and https://ebird.org/checklist/S292705116.
The photos attached (although not very crisp) tell the story.
Happy birding to you all.
Julie
