Joey’s birthday seemed a great success.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the cold wind and torrential rain early in the day, we spent a wonderful five hours at the Healesville Sanctuary. Dodging a few brief showers was infinitely preferable to dodging the hordes of tourists and screaming kids that we could have met.

One of the most interesting events was during the daily raptor display. The first keeper wasn’t sure whether they’d be able to get through the three birds normally displayed, since the wind was gusting strongly and they were concerned that they might “lose someone” should they decide to fly off a few kilometres downwind. Firstly a hawk, then a Barking Owl were brought out. The highlight was the male Peregrine Falcon. As soon as he flew up above the trees, a wild pair appeared and started attempting to drive him from their territory. The keeper was amazed, he claimed he’d never seen a wild pair nearby, and was quite concerned that the Sanctuary’s bird would be injured. Eventually the wild pair departed and the Sanctuary’s bird reappeared from where he’d hidden in the branches.

I was wishing I had a decent digital camera, or even an SLR to take some photos of the birds, as it is, there should be a few good pictures on the current roll in my camera.

Where?

Healesville