Hi all,
On Sunday last I had a pretty good day with Raptors up here in Broome.
It started on Roebuck Plains as we were driving to one of the last
remaining points of fresh water out there (wet season seems to have
failed this year as in other parts of the country). The first raptor
seen on the day was Black Kite - no surprises there. There were many
Brown Falcons on the plains - it seemed like there was one in each
tree. Flying higher was a juvenile White-bellied Sea-Eagle, a
Whistling Kite, a Brown Goshawk and a Nankeen Kestrel - we saw more of
each of these during the day. As we continued over the plains I saw a
raptor I was not familiar with. Stopping, I confirmed that it was a
dark morph Little Eagle, my first raptor tick for over a year. As we
were driving off the plains into the pindan we noticed a pair of
larger birds flying low over the trees, which were shortly confirmed
to be Spotted Harriers. They were acting suspiciously and though we
couldn't track down a nest, I suspect they are nesting. When we
reached the wetland there were many wonderful waterbirds concentrated
into the area, including one lone Long-toed Stint (another tick
bringing me to 400 Australian birds), but overhead were many species
of raptor, including four Swamp Harriers. After we headed home I
headed into Broome, and on the way had the good fortune to spot a
Peregrine Falcon shooting over the pindan towards the bay, a Collared
Sparrowhawk doing much the same, a Brahminy Kite cruising over the
salt marsh near town, and a trio of Ospreys just on sunset to round
the day out. Thirteen raptors in all, and a very exciting day.
Regards,
Chris - Broome
Raptor list for the day:
Collared Sparrowhawk
Brown Goshawk
White-bellied Sea-Eagle
Little Eagle
Osprey
Black Kite
Whistling Kite
Brahminy Kite
Swamp Harrier
Spotted Harrier
Brown Falcon
Nankeen Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
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