Inqe and his partner watched their chick expectantly. He had grown from a tiny ball of fluff into an increasingly stronger young male.
He had been hopping about in the nest for some time now and the moment had come for him to take his first flight.
The chick flapped its wings and jumped to the edge of the nest. Its parents beat their massive wings and took flight. There would be no room for the three of them here.
Inqe circled the leadwood tree slowly and at low level. Such was his size that he needed the benefit of a warm thermal rising from the earth to assist him to take off properly. The chick might fare better, with his lighter size, but for now, Inqe had to touch down on a branch and watch.
The chick looked too gangly, too uncoordinated to ever make it into the air, but with another hop he had left the safety of the nest. His wings flapped madly and for a moment it looked like he might collide with a sharp branch, but in the next he was flying.
They were not safe yet, not the chick, not Inqe, not their species, but there was hope.