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Great pic madach.

It's quit funny listening to sub-adult learning to call. I heard it at Letaba once. It starts off great but makes a mess of it in the middle and then just stops. Still is a wonderful call.

I had an unusual sighting today: a fish eagle feeding on a dead lamb. It was surrounded by suitably respectful Yellowbilled Kites and crows. I think it might have "poached" the kill from the smaller raptors, who are regulars in the farmlands. BTW, this was fairly close to the Berg river estuary.

Fish eagles are very well reknown for eating carion. In fact it makes out quite a big part of their diet.

They are also oppurtunists and can and do steel food from others. But a lamb might be too big for them to kill. I did once see a documentry about fish eagles hunting in pairs and catching Flamingos

The one we saw at Kanniedood Dam in July was definitely eating what looked like a rabbit or such. It was also the first time I actually saw one eating an animal.

Nico posted this beautiful African Fish Eagle photo in their December 2005 trip report.


Johann photographed this African Fish Eagle during his October trip to Kruger


Flying African Fish Eagle photographed by Krokodile and posted in one of the Bird quizzes


Acekam posted this African name for Fish Eagle in the African names for animals thread
Inkwazi = Fish Eagle

I am just wondering if there is any specific reason why we saw so few Fish Eagles last week, normally I hear them everywhere in Kruger and thrill to the call but this time we hardly heard or saw any.
Could it be because of the abundant water and rivers flowing too fast and deep, but even the dams were unusually silent to their call, unless we were just unlucky.
I guess there is plenty of water everywhere and they could have dispersed as have the animals.

I also wondered about that, Elsa, I only heard one fish eagle the whole weekend and that was on the S114 as I was heading to Malelane gate.

There was a report on SABN that Pels in Pafuri area are harder to find lately, there reason was that because all the rivers are so full there are plenty good fishing areas for them and they are not all concentrated in any one area. This might be the case for the Fish Eagles.

For my first trip in Kruger, no leopard but a fisch eagle ...fisching...




I was very, very happy

Seen at the Engelhard dam

Richard

http://www.pbase.com/richardharris/june_2006

Near Olifants - Sept 2006

Help me please, is this a juvenile fisheagle

Looks very much like the Juv FE's I have seen Freda, Yes.

Yup Juv. FE.