Hinewai falcon

[Stevex2]

A dawn chorus visit to Hinewai Reserve (Brocheries Road Entrance) this morning was rewarded with a great sighting of a hunting karearea (NZ falcon), which we saw three times during a 20 minute or so period in the same spot.
The first sighting saw the bird using the strong nor'west breeze to swoop up the slope from below our ridge and spring a surprise attack on a flock of small birds just above the canopy at the base of one of the many Hinewai volcanic bluffs. The birds scattered in every direction and we saw the falcon dive into the canopy itself in pursuit. The distance made it impossible to tell what sort of small birds but they were too small to be starlings so might have been finches or silvereye (the latter were in large numbers everywhere).
A few minutes later it was flying rapidly along the face of the cliffs and then, again, made a rapid dive into the canopy at the cliff base as birds scattered in every direction.
The third time it repeated the surprise attack method from below the terrace, using the updraft and rapid wing beats to launch another attack on birds flocking just above the canopy at the base of the cliff.
From it's size and shape I think it was most likely a female in good condition.