COTTESLOE’S first nesting ospreys are hunting and eating fish near their new home in one of the suburb’s iconic Norfolk Pine trees.
Western Suburbs Weekly reporter Jon Bassett shot these pictures of the birds enjoying a beachside meal of fish from an aerial perch last Friday.
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READ NOWOne of the birds was also seen flying low with a small branch in its beak near the Vlamingh Memorial site on the Cottesloe-Mosman Park border recently.
Earlier this month, BirdLife WA vice-chair Mike Bamford told communitynews.com.au the nest was a new site for the fish-hunting raptors, which have wingspans up to 1.7m.
It was not among 10 sites in a survey of where ospreys are found in Perth in 2017.
Dr Bamford said if the Cottesloe birds remained undisturbed they could lay up to three eggs until September, after which the chicks could fledge in late spring or early summer.
He said drones and their pilots seeking footage could disturb the parents, who could leave the chicks.
Ospreys are fully protected under WA wildlife law.