The cry of the African Fish Eagle

If you are looking to add this to your birding list,
then look no further than the Chobe River.
Here you can find Haliaeetus vocifer in large numbers.
This Impala ewe is jumping for joy as she is too large to be Fish Eagle prey.

High in the sky, it scans the river below for a meal…

Flying along the bank,
looking for a tree to rest up on.

This Pied Kingfisher shares the feeding grounds…

A pair of African Fish eagles…
The female is larger and has more white on her breast.

A lone Fish Eagle watches a pair of Elephants,
another common resident of the Chobe wetlands.

Perched on a “focus” tree.
Fish Eagles often favour a particular tree on stump to fish from.

Take off…

The bird in the background is an Open billed Stork

Checking for food?

About to take off…

Unfortunately for me, and it, none of its hunts were successful
This is a behaviour I have not seen before.
Although they feed mainly on fish,
they do scavenge on carcasses.
They have been known to take nestlings and catch ducks.

Once more…off to look for a meal.

Other prey species, like storks and pelicans have lost fish to them.

And with a set of talons like these would YOU argue?

You only realize how big they are when you see them on the ground!

This Egret was able to catch some lunch…
In the fading evening light…
Certainly one of the iconic images and sounds of Africa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdCazQJFbPw