Hi there, on a recent work trip "down the track", i was lucky to spot this BBB, on an Agile wallaby, He flew off as i appraoched in the car, but i was able to pull up and watch for a while, as he sauntered around with the funny on ground gait they have. The local crows didn't think much of him taking their spoils either. I did drag the carcass off the road hoping he would come back, but time restraints meant i couldn't hang around too long. Always a thrill to see these fellows, reasonably common not far out of Darwin, easy to see flying as well with the distinctive white windows in the wings.
Great photos Hendo, the beak almost looks like that of an Eagle. They do have a large wingspan too, about 150 cm, not bad.
( talking about bad, look at that road
)
M-L
Yes, that road is average! Huge 4 trailer road trains rumble up and down all day due to the gas plant being built in Darwin, very dangerous.
Nice! Thanks for posting these
Cheers,
Scott.
Good on you for pulling that bit of roadkill off that road. Too many raptors and other birds get killed for no good reason. :(
Good pics of the buzzard too. The easiest ID characteristic (in flight or here) is the white patch showing at the base of the primaries in the first shot (as you mentioned). It still amazes me how many misidentified raptor images abound on the WWW.
Yes, once you know what to look for, the buzzard is unmistakable, and large wingspan to body lenght as well, love spotting them from afar!