Dear All,
Eleven days ago I posted images of Bat Hawks, which were displaying
around the garden. From when they flew off after a few minutes I never
saw them again until this morning. At 7.00am the young male was
sitting in the Acacia xanthophloea gaping to cough up a pellet. It sat
contentedly for a while, and whilst I was trying to ring people that
live locally I noticed a pair fly past the window. Rushing outside I
was privileged to watch them displaying, foot touching , and
synchronised flying that was so perfect, and not mentioned in any
accounts of the species. Attached is a collection of images taken over
the hour that they spent chasing each other around the paddock,
pecking at twigs, and after a Pied Crow knocked the young male out of
the tree, it then had a Bat Hawk on it’s tail for quite a while until
the Bat Hawk tired of the game and returned to the tree. The bottom
line of small images are frame by frame of the synchronous flying, and
it shows just how precise this is. Their display is so incredibly
rapid with wheels and dives, and very difficult to follow with a
camera.
As I stated before there is certainly an intention to breed close by,
but the ten days period of absence, makes it unsure when the next show
will be.
Best to all
Brian