Raptors return at Cowra

The demise of raptors from eating poisoned rodents in the recent mice plague was widely reported. It has felt that raptor numbers were down. So it was good to see more than the usual number during the recent Cowra Woodland Bird Program weekend.

At the Cowra water treatment plant there were Brown Falcons on both sides of the road, then a Whistling Kite flew over. Further out of town I saw this Black-shouldered Kite making its own contribution to keeping mice numbers down. And at the Cowra Common a Brown Goshawk made a low pass, followed by the sight of seven raptors in a slow and very high spiral over the prison camp area. When I checked the photos later they were all Black Kites, which fitted with a nearby sighting of 19 Black Kites in the one tree!

A low pass from this Brown Goshawk, at the Cowra Common, Cowra, New South Wales.

Brown Falcon at the Cowra water treatment plant.

This Black-shouldered Kite is helping the land-owner keep the mice population at bay.

Raptors in the city

The sight and sound of over one hundred Little Corellas rising together as one is a sure sign that some danger is present. This time in Centennial Park, Sydney it is a Brown Goshawk that is stirring up the park’s inhabitants.

A Brown Goshawk is on the chase at Sydney’s Centennial Park. Brown Goshawks are seen quite often in the city’s Eastern Suburbs.

It is a good question as to who is chasing who. Currawongs and Ravens were protesting the Goshawk’s presence while these Rainbow Lorikeets pass quickly by.

Square-tailed Kite

My first sight of a Square-tailed Kite came last week as a bolt out of the blue. I was walking down a headland bush track on NSWs south coast when the kite dropped suddenly to strike at a small bird on a banksia about 10 metres in front. I hastily changed the camera to “Bird In Flight” preset and pointed at the bird. The result was to capture the strike and then it’s flight out through three to five metre scrub. Most importantly it confirmed identification as a first Square-tailed Kite.

My “Bird In Flight” preset set on the Canon 7 D II camera is; a speed of one two thousandth of a second, autofocus on the five central points, automatic adjustment of exposure and a plus one stop exposure compensation. The exposure compensation set for shots against a cloudy sky resulted in overexposed photos here because of the darker bush background but they were adequate to relive the drama of the situation.