Saddlebilled Stork

BigAl

In Africa, most people only want to stop off and watch the big cats. My wife and I like watching other hunters as well. We found this Saddlebilled Stork trying to catch fish in this pond which was busy drying up.




He eventually caught a smallish barbel (a type of catfish), but couldn't swallow it (the feelers of the barbel make it difficult), so he took it out the water and bashed it around a bit.



Unfortunately for the stork, a young Fish Eagle must have been observing this from a nearby tree. The eagle swooped down and after several attempts managed to pinch the fish from the stork.



[Pics not too wonderful as they were taken handheld (under poor light) with me leaning across the missus]

dbaker1221

cool story & shots Al.

I get real shaky & find it hard to concentrate when leaning on my wife too. maybe I should try your ...."let me shoot a photo on your side of the car" to rub on my honey too:D

BigAl

dbaker1221 wrote:

cool story & shots Al.

Thanks Dave!

dbaker1221 wrote:

I get real shaky & find it hard to concentrate when leaning on my wife too. maybe I should try your ...."let me shoot a photo on your side of the car" to rub on my honey too:D

Maestro

Now this is just cool. The only shot I have of this one is at the local zoo. What is even more interesting is the fact that you caught the eagle in one of the shots too eyeing the prey of the saddlebill.

Ric Grupe

Come on, Al...you're makin' these creatures up!

Very nice...thanks.

BigAl

Maestro wrote:

Now this is just cool. The only shot I have of this one is at the local zoo. What is even more interesting is the fact that you caught the eagle in one of the shots too eyeing the prey of the saddlebill.

Thanks for commenting Stephen! I wish I could have caught the eagle actually having a go at the stork. I was too slow on that :cry

BigAl

Ric Grupe wrote:

Come on, Al...you're makin' these creatures up!

Very nice...thanks.

Thanks Ric! They are real, you need to come and see them

Shasoc

Very nice behavioral captures of a bird I've never seen in real life, Al. And the Eagle is a bonus.

Harryb

Nice sequence Al of birds we don't get to see here in the US.

raptorcaptor

Nice photo story Big Al!

BigAl

Shasoc wrote:

Very nice behavioral captures of a bird I've never seen in real life, Al. And the Eagle is a bonus.

Thanks for looking and commenting!

riddim_maker

Must've been a site to see such action.
Unusual looking bird
Thanks for charing Al

BigAl

Harryb wrote:

Nice sequence Al of birds we don't get to see here in the US.

Thanks Mr B! You need to come and visit - don't have Coronas, but my own brew is drinkable :slurp!

BigAl

raptorcaptor wrote:

Nice photo story Big Al!

Thanks Glenn!

BigAl

riddim_maker wrote:

Must've been a site to see such action.
Unusual looking bird
Thanks for charing Al

Thanks Russ! It was good to see the action, especially as we didn't expect the Fish Eagle.