Birding

Brown Falcon foraging after a bush fire

October 16, 2016 by Clare M 5 Comments

In the Northern Territory as with other States and territories there are rest areas provided to encourage drivers to stop and rest a while and not drive during the night if they can avoid it. These rest areas offer shade and picnic tables and often water and toilets too. You are permitted to camp at some of these rest areas and a particularly picturesque rest area is at Saddle Creek which is 108 kilometres/67 miles east of Kununurra. Following a bush fire the whole area looked particularly bare and the few remaining green trees in the centre of the rest area were still being occupied by a few birds.

A Brown Falcon flew into the parking area and immediately we were drawn to its actions as it turned over the leaves in search of any small creature that was weak or injured by the recent bush fire.

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Brown Falcon in the car-park

Having eaten one small creature the Brown Falcon flew just to the front of our vehicle and continued to toss leaves about in search of food and was not at all concerned about our presence!

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Brown Falcon turning leaves

The Brown Falcon was definitely taking advantage of the recent bush fire and looking for some easy pickings! It was being rather successful too!

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Brown Falcon

It was an enjoyable time spent relaxing at the rest area and it was interesting to watch the Brown Falcon feed rather than just sitting in a tree or on a post doing very little!

Written by Clare M
Clare and her husband, Grant, have lived permanently in Broome, Western Australia since 1999 after living in various outback locations around Western Australia and Darwin. She has lived in the Middle East and the United States and traveled extensively in Europe. She monitors Pied Oystercatchers breeding along a 23km stretch of Broome's coastline by bicycle and on foot. She chooses not to participate in social media, but rather wander off into the bush for peace and tranquility. Thankfully she can write posts in advance and get away from technology!