Sunday, November 21, 2010

Baza goes for smash and grab

Smash and grab Pacific Baza (Aviceda subcristata) spreads wide and handsome in tree-top hunt for frogs and mantids. The birds sometimes choose to crash into upper foliage, shocking prey. Pair nesting high behind Tyto info centre amid tall paperbarks come and go mostly unnoticed. 


Also active, until the latest rains reflooded the area, pair of Brahminy Kites (Haliastur indus). Keen interest in weed-free lagoons coincided with schools of fish 'hoovering' surface water. 
Click pix to enlarge

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4 comments:

  1. mickNovember 21, 2010 at 1:28 PM

    The photo of the Pacific Baza is fantastic with the light shining through the feathers to show the patterns.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Denis WilsonNovember 21, 2010 at 3:27 PM

    Hi Tony
    Both birds are ones I remember only from trips north - too long ago.
    Denis

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mark YoungNovember 22, 2010 at 9:12 AM

    Awesome Tony. I love these 2 raptors are superb. Love the Kite one.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tyto TonyNovember 23, 2010 at 8:49 AM

    Hi Mick: I was bit lucky to get such a snap shot. Birds usually much higher above me in trees.

    Hi Denis: And I'd stay south in meantime if I were you. This is going to be a long, long wet. Plus, many more cyclones this season.

    Hi Mark: Thanks, mate. Had high hopes for series on kites. Now, they've quit the lagoons and gone back to, of all things, scavenging along the highways - and roadside flood creeks.

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