The Grey Goshawk is regarded as a rare sighting for Canberra. Early on Sunday morning i got my 4th sighting this year of one. I could not get any good pics as it was behind branches but after leaving to go home for breakfast i returned to be informed it was in a willow tree in front of Bittern Hide but could not be seen. I sat in the hide while 2 Twitchers were out in the open to get a good look at the bird. Even though the Goshawk was being bombarded by the black and whites the presents of the twitchers was to much for the Goshawk and it decieded to leave. Lucky for me as i got some decent shots of it as it left.
grey goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae)-4808 by shorty, on Flickr">[/url]grey goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae)-4808 by shorty, on Flickr
grey goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae)-4809 by shorty, on Flickr">[/url]grey goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae)-4809 by shorty, on Flickr
grey goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae)-4810 by shorty, on Flickr">[/url]grey goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae)-4810 by shorty, on Flickr
grey goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae)-4815 by shorty, on Flickr">[/url]grey goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae)-4815 by shorty, on Flickr
Wow, birding before breakfast, thats dedication :P
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
no, he's a Hobbit and that would have been secondes (where are those smileys?)
Peter
Awsome photos of such amazing birds!
M.M.
Hi
First post - be nice! ;)
I wouldn't descibe myself as a twitchy type, but I love to look at the birds wherever I am.
I have noticed a very swift bird fitting the description of the Grey Goshawk (that I can see anyway with the naked eye) around sunset recently over many days, swooping onto the two-story roof next door in the suburb of Wright bordering Stromlo Forest Park and the Molonglo River..
My presumption is that it is nesting on said roof. Is that unusual nesting behaviour for a bird of this type?
Sorry, it's too fast for me to get a picture -- try as I may.
Patrick Dominick
Hi Patrick,
The chances of you having been seeing a Grey Goshawk on a regular basis in Wright is very slim. There have been 1, perhaps 2 birds in the ACT region, and even they have not been seen for many months. The behaviour you describe does not seem to fit particulary well either. Unfortunately, my best suggestion would be a Rock Dove aka Feral Pigeon- they are white under the wings and do the dives you describe. There may be other possibilities as well, however.
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera