167 : African Fish Eagle

African Fish Eagle - Haliaeetus vocifer

I expected to see a lot of these birds on the wing and doing their thing but all I managed was a fairly typical shot of an eagle perched on a lake side tree. They are clearly out of the same box as the bald eagle in terms of looks or families.

Reading up I learn that this shot is of an African Fish Eagle hunting as they perch and then swoop down to snatch their prey which is usually fish. They also take baby crocodiles, water birds including flamingos, lizards, monkeys and Hyraxes (more of them in a later post). You probably cannot judge but this is a very big bird, taken with a 400mm zoom and this is subsequently blown up. I will leave how big for later.

They are widespread across Sub-Saharan Africa whereever there are large bodies of water so the Great Rift Valley must suit them well. I need to go back and just watch one of these birds hunting properly to really appreciate them. I was conscious all the time that I was in a truck with the family and I wanted to keep a balance. There was always the times back in camp when I could watch birds rather than catching them on the way past. There is so much to see on Safari and you are conscious of the time that sometimes you forget to just stop and watch the world go by. The next time I go to Africa I am going to blow whole game drives on one spot by a river and just watch what comes along - "Arsing'' rather than ''Chasing"' in birding terms. There is also something magical about what you hear when the engine is turned off. Just the quiet sounds of the bush - usually !  

I will make-weight this post then with another animal from the same drive. Kirk's Dikdik - Africa's smallest Antelope. I never imagined that we would see one of these shy creatures. As we turned the corner the driver turned off the engine and we coasted foward trying not to be too excited although its hard.

I have to say hitting the books (in this case the Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals) its clear that our guides must have been refering to Dikdiks generally as there is an even smaller Dikdik (and dare I say cuter Dikdik) - a Silver Dikdik (Not to be confused with a Salts Dikdik) that is good 3-5 cm smaller at the shoulder. Its hard to see again but this Kirks variety stands no more than 45 cm at the shoulder at most- so could probably constitute a small meal for a big Fish Eagle which in comparison stands more like 70 cm at the shoulder.

Disney must have seen one of these before sending instructions for the size of Bambi's eyes.

Habit wise a Dikdik will add its own droppings to those of any other creature that leaves a mess in its territory - a joke in Africa revolves around the Dikdik that keeps adding its very small efforts to the pile left an elephant but eventually wins the day by tripping over the invading Pachiderm. I watched a National geographic programme set in the Congo with Pygmies net trapping these - they really can shift.

My eldest son and I shared a tent later in the trip and decided that as a counter measure to any animal that got into the tent we would put up a picture of Dikdik a little smaller than life size proportions in the hope of distracting it. They do look as if they need to live by their wits to survive. Bush cannon fodder. I saw this animal as we came round a bend and had a moment or two to get the shot. Really enigmatic little things - the size of a smaller dog really.

And I managed to get through that without any obvious jokes. I had no idea why they are called a Dikdik and had no desire to add further fuel to fire that was my sons disdain at the name. Apparently it is eponomous with the females shrill alarm call - Dikdik they cry when startled.

African Fish Eagle

Lake Manyra National Park, Tanzania

19 July 2012