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Just came into this topic! My favourite bird!!!
I love his call - thats one of the most beautiful sounds of the bush!

Here is one I got this morning.

I was at Lake Sibaya in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park in March 2010 and I have never seen so many African Fish Eagles - I think they had over 20 nesting pairs. We stood at the edge of the lake and spotted a AFE in the distance and then it flew down onto the surface of the lake and stayed there for some seconds - like it was floating on the water. It then took off with a fish in its claws - my first and only experience of actually seeing a fish eagle fish . It then flew and settled down on a bank close to where we were and of course I walked over to a position as close as possible without disturbing the eagle and its prey. We watched it feed on the fish till its mate flew over and it took off with the fish. Foll are a selection of some of the pics I took
I am not sure if it is appropriate to post Lake Sibaya pics here, and if it is not, my sincere apologies

Stunning pics Sandeep It must have been great to watch the Fish Eagle

Those are very nice pictures.

I was at Sunsetdam at Lower Sabie on 2011-03-04 and saw a number of African Fish Eagles catching fish from the dam. I got the following sequence of photos which shows the eagle catching a fish from the dam.

Thanks Katja and Leeukos. Yes, yet another of the magical moments which stays with you .

Great pics Leeukos. I have always seen them at the Sunset Dam but never got a chance to actually see them fish. Leeukos a question - when you watched the fish eagles coming down on the water, did they grab the fish during flight or did you also get the same impression that I did that the eagle actually settled on the surface of the water for a few moments and then flew off with its catch??

Hi Sandeep. The Fish Eagles I saw at Sunsetdam grabbed the fish during flight. After you mentioned that it looked like the eagle first settled on the water I remembered reading something interesting. It seems it all depends on the size of the fish.

The fish eagle prefers fish which weighs less than 1 kg. They say it can easily carry fish off up to 2 kg and then fly off. Fish that weigh more than 2 kg are dragged across the water or the eagle will fall back into the water and uses its wings to row back to the side of the dam.

I have never seen a Fish Eagle to first settle on the water and then take off, but I think it might be due to the size of the fish, getting a good grip, and then taking off.

Maybe some other members of the forum can give more information on this.

Thanks Leeukos. I am no expert on fish, but would say that the fish that I saw with the eagle looked a fair size, so this may well be the case.
Yes would be interesting to see if any of the other forumites can comment

Cheers

Seen between Satara and Olifants, many eagles present they seemed to be catching insects me thinks.

Was also Tawny and Steppe Eagles and many yet to be identified small raptors.


African Fish Eagle by Michael hattingh, on Flickr

I have got also a special one
... rob a piece of fish to a Crocodile
As per Franck the Fish Eagle could be hungry

Fish eagle seen near Shawu wh , giving us the evil eye .

Saw this on Sunday the 5th. Can someone ID what is in it's claw. Looks like a snail,a real big one.

Another look a this catch,which was taken from the Lower Sabie river. The photos are from the LS bridge.It must be some sort of molluse soft bodied hard-shelled animal.Fresh water snail is my guess. but did not think they got to this size.

Sunset Dam, Nov 2011:


African Fish Eagle by dinkybird, on Flickr

Stunning action images

Taken on the S33



Taken at Lake Panic.