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Tri-State Twitch

Dave Watson

The Grey Falcon—an unprepossessing name for the most enigmatic Australian bird. Trickiest of the falcons. The ghost that flies; feathered smoke. Don’t know how often they’ve noticed me but I’ve seen them on around 25 occasions. Like birthday parties, they’re all special. That time one flew between two oblivious students, intently watching their assigned shrubs to see which birds came to visit; that time one arced past me, an arm span away as I walked across the gibber.

That time a Grey Falcon interrupted our cricket match...

I’ve been taking groups of university students to the desert for almost 20 years. A tradition on these trips is playing cricket at Cameron Corner. With a carefully arranged field, students batting in South Australia hit the ball clear across New South Wales only to be caught out in Queensland.

There we were, clear blue sky, game underway. And then I saw it coming in, less than seven metres above the russet sand, flat wings, ashen plumage, marigold skin. GREY FALCON!

I pointed emphatically, bowler and batsman followed my gaze along with the rest of the field. Some scrambled for cameras or binoculars, other just stood and watched it glide overhead. Without a moment’s hesitation, I vaulted the chain around the survey marker, jumped up and sat upon the corner post, in so doing seeing a Grey Falcon from all three states at the same time!