Hi Everyone,
I saw this raptor flying low over heathlands. It was about 20km North East of Ballina, NSW (near Lennox, NSW, just south of Byron Bay, NSW). It flew low over the heathlands and then went down onto the ground far away in the vegetation. I stayed there for about half an hour waiting for it to come back up again but unfortunately it didn't! It was probably only about 300m away from the beach. I also noticed a long tail as it flew. The closest I can come to is Brown or Red Goshawk but there is just something about it that looks wrong (also its behaviour)... Does anyone have an idea of what it could be? (Sorry about the extremely poor quality of the photos).
Thank you.
I forgot to add this photo...
Curtis
Sorry not enough detail for me. I can't even guess,they look like two different birds.
I regularly see Swamp Harriers over the heath & cane fields just north of Lennox.
Steve
Thanks Steve,
I reckon its safe to say Swamp Harrier, it was behaving like one.
Would you say this one is as well? (Lots of them, they never come close.) (I am afraid that this is not enough detail either).
Curtis
Curtis
In the last photo , the tips of the birds wings have fingers . My first guess would be that it is a harrier. But that is only a guess. Whistling kites also have feather fingers.
Anyway good work on the action shots, this helps us to keep our minds open and eyes sharp.
See it! Hear it!
Mid-North Coast NSW
Yes, the last photo is almost certainly a Swamp Harrier, the pale rump is a good id feature for Swampies, thou be careful of juveniles which may not have a pale rump.
The upswept wings when gliding is an indicator for both the Harriers, but there's a few other raptors that also glide with upswept wings, e.g. Wedgie, Sea-eagle, Brown Falcon, etc.
Steve
Thanks!
Curtis