While day time temperatures have ranged from hot to bloody hot (46ºC) here in the Wheatbelt metropolis of York we have had some very cool mornings around the 14ºC mark. I was out the other day on one of those mornings, it was almost too cold and I was tempted to go back to the car. A few days prior while walking the dog along the Avon River  I’d noticed piles of feathers underneath a couple of tall trees. At first I thought that the birds had been killed by a fox or a cat but a closer look convinced me that the birds hadn’t been killed there and there were no wings, legs or head. Just a pile of feathers. So I decided to to go out  and see if I could find the culprits. As I got close to where I’d previously found the bird remains I could hear a couple of goshawks calling out to each other – they can be quite vociferous – but I was quite confused as to where they were. I was scanning the the branches above me without seeing anything and as I kept walking the noise got louder. Then I realised that the calls weren’t coming from above me, but rather to the left and slightly below the river bank. So I got down on the ground and slowly crept towards the source of the noise and there on a paperbark tree were a male and female Brown Goshawk. The smaller male took off almost immediately but the female was all puffed up against the cool air just sat there watching me and continuously calling out to her mate. I stayed for about half an hour and then headed back to the car and home.