|
Late this afternoon, I decide to go for a short
drive to our local waste tip 5 minutes from home, to see what raptors may be out
and about (I am hoping to repeat the success with raptors from my
recent visits to the East Maitland Tip over the past year or so). Unlike
the East Maitland Tip, I do not have access to go inside the actual tip but was
able to see a number of birds from outside. The first raptor I saw after
arriving about 3:30 pm was a Black-shouldered Kite doing its typical
hovering, than one or two Whistling Kites and then the best of them
all, a BLACK FALCON seen twice showing its unmistakable form and seen having a
go at a Magpie. This is another Sydney tick for me and also a tick for
my local shire list (Blacktown). As Black Falcons readily accept
carrion and thus attracted to tips, I hope that there is a resident
breeding pair of this uncommon falcon at Eastern Creek. The surrounding
area of the tip is mainly wide expanses of lightly treed paddocks, ideal hunting
ground for Black Falcons and other raptors.
Black Falcons probably turn up every year in the
Sydney area (especially the Hawkesbury area) but I would not be surprised that
there are one or more breeding pairs around in western Sydney.
Edwin Vella
|
