Introducing the JPP Raptor Mob!

Eagles of James Price Point:

Leading star: BSE Baby Sea Eagle

OMG I am in absolute heaven!  This is the land of the ocean raptor they are everywhere, or many different breeds!  I remember many years ago when we lived in Broome (back in the per-Derby days, about 10-12 years ago), reading something about Photography and Bird watching tours, which I am sure where held here at James Price Point.  Does anyone know if this is so?  They should be!  The scenery is amazing, why wouldn't you want to learn about photography here?  I am!  But more importunately the eagle, well birds of all type, but we are right on the water, so see the ‘sea’ birds mostly, are everywhere!  I have had many up close and personal moments, especially with the youngest Sea Eagle, who is getting very used to us, and flying VERY close.  Heart pounding stuff.  I was constantly running for my camera.  Now I have so many GREAT photos when they fly over I just sit back and enjoy the moment.  Loving every moment of it here!

Regularly seen here:
Two Brahminy Kite’s, + 1 young.
2 mature Sea Eagles, + 2 young (one older, possibly 2nd year)
2 Osprey Sea Eagles. (not so regular, but have seen together.) + 1 young, took me a while to work out what it was, but am now sure it is a young Osprey.
At least 3 other small kite’s of different type
Kestrel (when driving, not on beach)
Regular brown kites.
Crows
LOTS of Willy Wag-tails!
Oyster Catchers.
Plenty of sea birds: Boobies, ….. Etc
Nice clean Sea Gulls
Herron

I guess I either start a new ‘Positive Twitchers’ Blog, or re-name this one ‘Fishing Twitchers’?  As it is becoming apparent I have a new obsession: Eagles!  Oh, and I’m going to keep sharing my new love with you all.

  I spent all afternoon today following them around, getting Johnno to catch bait fish for me to fed them, and this is not new, I’ve been doing it more and more regularly.  The closer I get to them, the closer I want to be, and I’ve been getting pretty close!  Maybe I’m missing my birdy loves from Aussie (our Corella parrot we gave to friends when we left on holiday), but I think it’s more that I’m so star/feather struck with their beauty and grace.  I’m fascinated with them.
 

Finally have some great up close Brahminy photos

Later… after 3 weeks here:

The eagles are getting very used to us now.  I’ve had some wonderful up close and personal moments.  The BSE (Baby Sea Eagle) come’s straight for us and very close, looking at us and obviously knows where the dogs are all the time.  We are now at the most amazing stage of being able to call them, sometimes even if we can not see them.  The first time it happen we knew it was no coincident.  The regular mature visitor (most likely male from it’s smaller size) had circled us, as they always do now, checking out if we had left out any fish for them.  We hadn’t so he flow off, heading straight out to sea.  He was a few hundred metre off when Johnno whistled to get his attention, then we both started trying to do a Sea Eagle ‘Quack’.  He turned instantly, flying back straight towards us.  We through a fish carcass onto the beach, he swooped, picking it up without hesitation, flying off over the dunes.

Mature Sea Eagle turned when called from a few hundred meters away, starting a long distance dive to pick up fish carcass off the beach.

The dogs still hate all birds, especially the big Sea Eagels, not helped from the Trevalley stealing incident. YouTube link here!
 Running out of what ever shade they are sleeping under when they hear us doing the Eagle Quack, heading straight for the beach where they know I am going to throw the fish bits, or looking over the sand dunes where the Eagles always fly off to…but not usually from??  Dogs haven’t worked that bit out yet!

Johnno holding dogs back so I can get some good photos when the eagles come close.

The very first time I was able to get close to BSE (Baby Sea Eagle), he had caught his own lunch; a rather large, for the size of the bird anyway, Queen fish.  The fish was still flapping around as BSE ripped into it’s innards.  He (BSE) looks so young in those photos now, he has grown and darkened a lot over the last 3 weeks.  I was able to get very close, I actually think he was having trouble flying with his catch.  I sat on a rock as close as I dared, stopping when he looked like he was going to fly off, taking a million photos.  I could hear him crunching into and ripping off lumps of flash, that’s how close I was.  He kept a close eye on me, but was more worried about the other birds who were bomb-barding him, trying to steal his meal.

BSE with his own catch, come to show off to us.

Now that BSE is getting bigger, feeding himself, or perhaps because he is not shy of us and gets the good plenty of good bits we leave out for him, we are watching the unfolding of what I think is him getting driven out of his family turf.  I’ve heard that the mother eagle, once the youngsters are older enough, feeding themselves, do that, drive them off.  Nature is so hard, but I do understand that she would need the food there for herself and next years young.  Seems there is plenty of food here though.  We don’t see much of Mum, assuming the White Belly Sea Eagles we do see regularly are all males, they are all the same size, even BSE.  Then ever now and then we see a larger one, whom we guess must be mum.  Remember I have no knowledge about these things and no internet service to look them up, I’m just making it up as I go along from what I remember, that might be right, or might be completely wrong, either why, ever now and then we see a bigger WB Sea Eagle.

The first ‘could be turf war’ we seen was when BSE picked up a fish carcass off our beach, then second year youngster tried to steal it off him, they chased each other over the sand dunes.  This happened a few days in a row, and I thought it was just a fight for food, since BSE is much gamer than the rest, and will come close to our camp to get any bits, while the rest hang back till we throw them further down the beach.   But then we seen have seen since them, fighting and chasing each other (usually BSE getting chased).  The day I seen the mature one constantly following BSE was when I started to realise what we were witnessing.  Mature would not let BSE settle anywhere, making it hard for him to rest or feed; I guess this is how they are driven off to a new stretch of beach?
Later that day they both return at separate times, and are both still hanging around…maybe they have worked out there is enough food for everyone here; or maybe BSE because he is much bolder than the rest is going to claim this beach as his?  Either way it’s a sad thought when you think too much about it, so I don’t, I just enjoy the beauty of them here with us now.

Mature Sea Eagle ’trying’ to drive Baby Sea Eagle off his beach.

I have millions of photos, lucky Johnno brought me a 2T hard-drive before we left on holiday!  And I could blabber on for hours about these amazing birds, but I’m sure you would all loose interest, so I’ll stop now, but share a couple more of my favourite photos…

Mature Sea Eagle sitting on rock in front of our camp.  Stayed there while I got very close, until the dogs came running out.

AFTER the Mackeral head, came back to say Thanks...surely he didn't want more??

I love the out stretched wings shot, as much as the up close sitting ones.

BSE landing on rock in front of our camp

Johnno got a photo of me getting up close to BSE.

Brahminy having a tug-of-war over bits the big eagles left behind.

LATER: After 4 weeks at Flat Rock:  Well I did state above that I am no expert on Eagles hay, that I just like to look at them!  Keep that in mind! Haha.  Turns out there are TWO Baby Sea Eagles up there!  I was thinking one morning how different BSE was acting, then started to think it was a different bird, so went back to check my photos.  Hard to say, but I was convinced they were two different birds.  The adults all seem to have markings that tell them apart, but the young were harder.  Anyway, next day I see the TWO BSE together!!  Playing/flying together.  Beautiful morning!!!  No photos of that, it was the morning we were driving up to the reef again, I'd put my short lens on 7d to video driving on the beach: Driving on Beach YouTube clip.