One of the cool things about this part of Australia is how common it is to see birds of prey or raptors around.
Where I come from the only real raptors you see is the very occasional wedge-tailed eagle. These are the largest raptors in Australia and can grow to quite impressive sizes. You are most likely to see them flying high above in the sky, circling, often in pairs as they mate for life.
They are easy to spot by their namesake, the wedge in their tail. That and being so large they are almost impossible to mistake for any other bird of prey.
I haven't managed to get any photos of wild ones on this trip yet but we did see 2 rescues in a large aviary in Cocklebiddy (lel).
These 2 were both injured and unfortunately couldn't be rehabilitated back to a condition suitable for the wild so now live quite happily at one of the rest stops along the way. I feel bad for them being in a cage because they are used to having such huge spaces but they seem fairly content and it's either this or euthanasia.
They aren't pets or an attraction, we just noticed the huge aviary from the side and there is a sign telling you their story of how they were hit by cars/trucks and brought to Kununarra before moving back to where they live now.
My favourite so far would have to be the Sea eagle that hung around us on the banks of a river a couple hours north of Broome.
There were a large number of kites and falcons flying around the area and picking up scraps left by campers but there was also a large sea eagle that perched himself in a tree and watched everything go by.
Sea eagles are about the same size as the wedge-tail eagle but are almost completely white on the underside. It was hard to get good pictures with my phone but it was impressively large and the talons looked huge.
At one point he flew off and his enormous wingspan as he flew over the river looked quite impressive.
We were actually kinda worried he wanted to eat our dog as she only weighs around 5kg and he seemed to be keeping a close eye on her. So did we.
This one I am not 100% sure exactly what it is. One person told me it was a so and so kite but then said he has no idea. It looks very similiar to the Osprey that lives nearby.
The Osprey is a large, coastal bird of prey that feeds mainly on fish and crabs. They can be found all along the coast but aren't very well known. Not quite as large as the eagles but a fair bit bigger than the falcons and kites, these guys look fairly impressive if you get the chance to get up close.
This one was hanging out at the end of a pier as the tide came in, presumably waiting for the right time to fish in the shallower waters around the mangroves.
The osprey is the only member of its family and are either solitary or in a pair. Most raptor species seem to mate for life (that I know of so far).
We watched him sit on his lightpole for a while until he decided it was time to hunt and flew off toward the shore, not nearly as large the eagles but still looking quite impressive against the sunset.
There are a number of different raptors that inhabit Australia and I am not amazing at identifying them yet. Eagles, Osprey, Falcons, Hawks, Kites to name a few. My personal favourite is the Peregrine falcon and I have only seen one once when it was brought into the rescue back home. There are a lot of (what I think are) brown and black falcons here and they hang out at the parks and beaches scavenging food, almost like the seagulls.
Though they dominate the shit out of the seagulls and will swoop down and take what they want first.
I'm hoping Lydia gets her camera out and gets me some better shots of all the wildlife because me and a phone do not equal the best shots, regardless enjoy :)
