My trip to Bhadra during early May 2013 was filled with surprises. I witnessed lot of drama which made the trip even more memorable. One of the drama was casted by Bonelli's eagle and river terns.
On the evening boat safari, we were watching the river terns in the island, feeding the chicks, fishing, and busy with many more activities. Also there were small pratincoles with chicks. It was wonderful watching them feeding the young ones. That was the beginning of the trip, and we were in the first 15 minutes of our first safari.
All of a sudden, from no where, two Bonelli's eagles flew and landed in the island, and took off. One of the eagles got a river tern chick. There was a huge agitation among the river terns, but the eagles were fast enough to carry away the chick. All this happened in about less than a minute. We were all dumbstruck by this unexpected scene. Later we came to know that Bonelli's eagle were not seen in Bhadra for sometime.
According to wikipedia, "The Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata) is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. It breeds in southern Europe, Africa both north and south of the Sahara Desert and across the Indian Subcontinent to Indonesia. It is usually a resident breeder which lays 1-3 eggs in a tree or crag nest.
The Bonelli's Eagle is a small to medium - sized eagle at 55–65 cm in length. The upperparts are dark brown, and the underside is white with dark streaks. The wings are relatively short and rounded. The long tail is grey on top and white below and has a single broad black terminal band. The feet and eyes are yellow.
The Bonelli's Eagle takes a wide range of live prey, all taken alive. It usually hunts from cover by a quick dash from inside a tree, but it will also catch prey by quartering hill slopes like other eagles, or make a stoop from a soaring position. Most prey is taken on the ground.
This eagle takes large prey items, usually mammals or birds. Mammals up to the size of a hare are regularly taken, and birds up to guineafowl size. The Bonelli's Eagle is usually silent except in display and near the nest. Its fluted klu-kluklu-kluee call is less shrill than that of its near relatives".
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonelli's_Eagle
With the available time, I was lucky enough to capture some part of the drama.
On the evening boat safari, we were watching the river terns in the island, feeding the chicks, fishing, and busy with many more activities. Also there were small pratincoles with chicks. It was wonderful watching them feeding the young ones. That was the beginning of the trip, and we were in the first 15 minutes of our first safari.
All of a sudden, from no where, two Bonelli's eagles flew and landed in the island, and took off. One of the eagles got a river tern chick. There was a huge agitation among the river terns, but the eagles were fast enough to carry away the chick. All this happened in about less than a minute. We were all dumbstruck by this unexpected scene. Later we came to know that Bonelli's eagle were not seen in Bhadra for sometime.
According to wikipedia, "The Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata) is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. It breeds in southern Europe, Africa both north and south of the Sahara Desert and across the Indian Subcontinent to Indonesia. It is usually a resident breeder which lays 1-3 eggs in a tree or crag nest.
The Bonelli's Eagle is a small to medium - sized eagle at 55–65 cm in length. The upperparts are dark brown, and the underside is white with dark streaks. The wings are relatively short and rounded. The long tail is grey on top and white below and has a single broad black terminal band. The feet and eyes are yellow.
This eagle takes large prey items, usually mammals or birds. Mammals up to the size of a hare are regularly taken, and birds up to guineafowl size. The Bonelli's Eagle is usually silent except in display and near the nest. Its fluted klu-kluklu-kluee call is less shrill than that of its near relatives".
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonelli's_Eagle
With the available time, I was lucky enough to capture some part of the drama.
lovely natural history moment captured here Vinodh.....
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