Operation Wildflower
  • Home
  • Albums
  • Links
    • Botanical Gardens
    • OWF Sites
    • Public Parks, Gardens and Reserves
    • Reference Sites
    • Private Parks, Gardens and Reserves
  • Information
    • About Us
    • Articles
    • Contact Us
    • Disclaimer
    • Glossary
    • Plant Records
      • Aloes
      • Bulbs
      • Climbers
      • Cycads
      • Euphorbias
      • Ferns
      • Grasses
      • Herbs
      • Orchids
      • Parasites
      • Shrubs
      • Succulents
      • Trees
    • Sources of Information
    • Subject Index
Home Home » PARKS AND GARDENS » Mjejane Game Reserve » African fish eagle
Back to Category Overview
Total images in all categories: 12,086
Total number of hits on all images: 7,387,316

African fish eagle

African fish eagle
Start View full size
[Please activate JavaScript in order to see the slideshow]
Previous Previous
Image 3 of 75  
Next Next
Image 5 of 75  
  • Abutilon austro-africanum leaf variability
  • Adenium swazicum bare stems
  • Adenium swazicum buds
  • African fish eagle
  • African pied wagtail
  • Aptosimum lineare var. lineare
  • Argemone ochroleuca subsp. ochroleuca
  • Argemone ochroleuca subsp. ochroleucha leaves and fruit
  • Barleria elegans stem-tip
  • Blackshouldered kite, the blouvalk
  • Brownhooded kingfisher
  • Bushbuck inside the house camp
  • Caesalpinia rostrata
  • Caesalpinia rostrata leaves
  • Ceratotheca triloba, the wild foxglove
  • Combretum hereroense awaiting rain
  • Combretum imberbe by the Crocodile River

Image information

Description

The African fish eagle is a widely admired, large raptor living in much of Sub-Saharan Africa. A hooked beak and strong, curved talons spell warning: this fierce day-time hunter is formidable. The distinctive features of the species are, however, the white feathers of the head and upper body. And when its unmistakable call rings out, the bird’s identity is instantaneously revealed, even when hitherto unseen. Those piercing, haunting notes do announce African royalty, bringing the bush into the listener’s being and causing the city to fade.

The African fish eagle lives in places where living food supplies wait in and around the water. Lakes, rivers, dams, pans, swamps, coastal lagoons and estuaries fringed by tall trees will all do just fine. Add clean air, peace and quiet far from madding crowds and fish eagles stay, until tourism takes things too far.

Perched motionless in a tree-top as if innocently at rest by the water, the watch and wait, fully in the open, are conducted masterfully by this accomplished hunter. The moment of the sudden swoop down over the water surface, when it eventually happens, is fast. The element of surprise must leave no time for countermeasures.

The splash is a purposeful action, practiced and efficient. Sharp talons grab a firm hold into the flapping fish body. Big, slow wing movements start the ascent in the same moment, carrying the still live load up against gravity. A large catch (up to 3 kg) may have to be dragged across the water to the shore, the smaller ones fly better.

Sunlight captured in the tiny water drops flying off in all directions ensure a bright, albeit macabre celebration (Maclean, 1993; Wikipedia; www.arkive.org).

Hits
308
Photographer
Ivan Latti
Author
Ivan Latti
 
Back to Category Overview
Powered by JoomGallery