 |
| Brown Falcon launching from a stone sculpture with the Westgate Bridge in the background. Westgate Park, Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 1990s |
Here are some photos from the Kodak Photo CD made on May 13, 1999. All these shots were at Westgate Park, Port Melbourne in the 1990s. I don't know why I wanted these scanned. I think they had landmarks. I often visited the park in the 1990s as it was the best place to find raptors near the Melbourne CBD.
I have many nice memories and loads of negatives and slides. Nothing worth hanging on the wall but I think I have some nice historical records for the end of the century.
Apart from these pictures I also remember photographing a Spotted Harrier having a dogfight with a Whistling Kite in the middle of a 45C day. Who in their right mind would be out birding then?
I also had a close encounter with a young Black Falcon cutting through the park (winter). Well out of its recorded area but I'd been photographing them a week earlier in Queensland and felt they were following me around.
I watched a Nankeen Kestrel grab an Indian Myna in flight and the two cart-wheeled to the ground. I got two shots of it. It would be nice to find them. The birds disappeared behind a hedge in a business property next to the park so I couldn't go in. Neither bird appeared again, leaving me to imagine the outcome.
Other raptors included, Australian Hobby (regular), Brown Goshawk - I watched being chased away by a team of Black-shouldered Kite and Peregrine Falcon (on one occasion), Collared Sparrowhawk, and Swamp Harrier.
Pretty cool for a major urban environment!
For more information about Westgate Park please visit: Friends of Westgate Park
For more information about Westgate Park please visit: Friends of Westgate Park
 |
| Nankeen Kestrel |
 |
| Little Eagle |
 |
| Peregrine Falcon (above and below) |
 |
| Black-shouldered Kite |
 |
| Fox and Australian White Ibis |
4 comments:
Your pictures scanned really well Russell. It's interesting how we remember encounters with raptors. i think they raise our adrenalin levels and something sticks!
Nice set of pictures.
I got cracking views (and worthless pictures) of a female peregrine yesterday down at Phillip Island. Not the CBD, but still good!
Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
Wow what a great park that must be...............
It's interesting to see how it has changed - honeyeaters and ,at times, waterbirds dominate now. It's the last place my team visits in BirdLife's annual Challenge Count, although we had to cancel mid-afternoon because of really strong winds last year.
Post a Comment