Perth is one of very few cities, globally, where such a sight is possible: a large raptor, on patrol above a “great fen”, within a few kilometres of the CBD.
Pictured above: Circus approximans, at Herdsman Lake, which is the largest of many wetlands within the Perth metro area.
Widespread through much of Australasia, this raptor has many “common” names; “swamp harrier” is the most common.
The pictured individual had no reason to fly into the nearby CBD, but for him or her it would have taken a very few minutes flying time.
In a straight line, Perth’s CBD is circa 7ks away. (you can see a few of its “towers” in the photo, copyright Doug Spencer, taken at 5.04 pm on 30 July 2022)
If – immediately after taking the photo – we’d decided to drive to Perth’s GPO it would have only taken us 15 minutes.