I was witness to a marvellous birding moment, not 5 minutes ago.
I was sitting at my desk - next to the window - and a Wedge-tailed Eagle
came across the garden with two Torresian Crows flailing away in a mediocre
pursuit. The eagle turned this way and that, criss-crossed Abberton a bit,
not really bothered. A huge bird, regular around here, but always exciting
to see close-up.
But then a more serious contender suddenly turned up. A Peregrine Falcon
stooped on the eagle from a good height, not striking it, but going pretty
close, then, as the Wedge-tailed turned again to avoid theses nuisances, the
Peregrine climbed and stooped again.
I darted to the verandah for a better view, got my binoculars on the
Peregrine, so elegant and at the same time so powerful in this dynamic
assault, and I kept them there. One more stoop and then as the eagle
rethought his agenda and turned to climb away, the Peregrine broke off and
sped strongly in a direct line towards me.
I'd kept the glasses on the Peregrine the whole time, and my reward now was
an almost personal, if brief, audience. Perfect close-up views of his black
helmet, yellow eye-rings, white underparts and bright yellow legs as he
flashed over my head.
It was of course much more exciting than these few sentences can impart, a
breathtaking minute or so at most, but unforgettable.
Bill Jolly
"Abberton",
Lockyer Valley, Queensland.
Visit our website at www.abberton.org
--------------------------------------------
Birding-Aus is now on the Web at
www.birding-aus.org
--------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message 'unsubscribe
birding-aus' (no quotes, no Subject line)
to
|
