19 September 2023
A good morning
For the past few days, the female has been leaving the chicks in the nest and flying down into the Tea Garden – usually at around 06:00. On the last two mornings she has attracted the attention of a Black-winged Kite – that has flown across from the Blue gums to attack her. She does not seem phased however and stayed perched in one of the trees until the Kite gave up on its screaming dives.
In the evenings, she has also been leaving the box early, and on a few occasions, something has made me look out of my study window – and she has been sitting on the roof outside watching me.
This morning when I checked the nest there was a large rat lying next to the chicks – so they should at least feed well today. I’ve just checked again, and the female is back in the box with the chicks, but I couldn’t see any sign of the rat. Hopefully, tonight will be another good one for hunting!
This will be my last post for a while as I’m heading to the Cape for another tour.
By Geoff Lockwood