John, who maintains total confidentiality with landholders, says it was an honour to be entrusted with the location of the nesting birds and a thrill to have been able to film them.

“We’re not sure about it yet, but these could be the rarest falcons in the world,” says John, “and it’s paramount that we preserve their habitat.”

The Grey Falcon is one of Australia’s rarest raptors with only an estimated 500 breeding pairs. It is found over much of Australia but mainly along the timber-lined watercourses of the interior.

When a switched-on Basin resident discovered a nesting pair, the network wires began to hum. John Young, who has filmed some of Australia’s rarest and most elusive birds, was soon on the way, armed with all the latest gismos to capture the birds on film.

John often builds a tower platform to film from but has also perfected techniques for moving about in the rainforest canopy and recently filmed the Red Goshawk (Erythrotriorchis radiatus) from 20 stories up.

Nothing quite so extravagant was required for the Grey Falcon which was recorded alighting, perching and preening, with a 2000 millimetre lens from a rocky vantage point. John also slipped a pencil-cam over the lip of the nest and captured the parent birds returning with prey, tearing it up and feeding the almost fully-fledged chick.

The landholder said he was pleased to be involved with a process (Lake Eyre Basin sustainable natural resource management) aimed at maintaining the balance between production and biodiversity.

“The Grey Falcon is an example of the unique wildlife that occurs in the Lake Eyre Basin,” he said. “I’m proud to have them nesting on our land.”