Afton Street Conservation Preserve- Where does the raptor lurk?

Today my mum and I went to Afton Street Conservation Preserve at about 2 o' clock in the morning to try and spot at least one of the five raptors the preserve was created for.
We started our quest for the raptor by walking along the river. We saw two Australian wood ducks in the first of the small lagoon-like ponds. There is a small bridge where the first pond connects to the second pond. We crossed the bridge and looked at the river. There were 2 Pacific black ducks swimming. My mum also spotted a single white-faced heron, fishing on the shore of the river at a muddy bit that I was certain was not there last time I visited the preserve (the water levels must be dropping).

The white-faced heron on the mudflat
As we continued on we didn't see much else of note except for a flock of three great cormorants. We decided to go on a different trail that headed up the ridge in the center of the preserve. As we walked along this trail, we saw a small flock of  yellow-rumped thornbills feeding in the grass, a red wattlebird in the tree and some unidentfied small birds, as well as a female superb fairy-wren.

A yellow-rumped thornbill

The thornbills were lifers for my mother, but I wasn't satisfied- we still hadn't seen a raptor. We hiked up the ridge to an escarpment-like area. At the escarpment there was a flagpole and a sign talking about the grassland habitat and showing a black-shouldered kite. We walked along until we came to a section with walks going down the hill and up the hill. I decided to go up the hill. From above we could see that the lower walk was just a quick loop. What we could also see is that the trail headed towards this much-less-likely-looking-to-find-raptors trail with 2 people skateboarding. We turned back and decided to try the lower walk. The lower walk didn't turn up many birds other than a New Holland honeyeater. I heard some superb fairy-wrens. I also saw a very cute European rabbit. (Yes, I do know that they are introduced pests in Victoria, but I still find time to admire their cuteness).

A rabbit

However, seeing that we couldn't go forward, we turned back, not expecting anything. Then, my mum spotted a raven-like bird in a tree. I took some photos and worked out what it was- a brown falcon!

A dark form brown falcon

If people looked up Afton Street Conservation Preserve, found out that it was right next to a children's park and couldn't believe that my stories of wonderful birds in it were true, well, here's proof!

Satisfied, we went down from the escarpment and headed home.