3 000 ODD EAGLES

Today I witnessed one of the spectacles of the natural world that I have waited the longest to see.

A Red-billed Quelea colony (most numerous bird in the world according to some sources) is active in the east of Ngala. As one approaches the nesting area, the sky is full of raptors. Raptors flutter out of the trees close to the road and in the distance almost every tree has one!

A conservative estimate of 3000 brown eagles was in attendance this morning - mostly the migrant Lesser Spotted and also Steppe Eagles. A smattering of Tawny and Wahlberg's as well as Yellow-billed Kites are there too. It is one thing to witness a large flocks of queleas or other small birds, but to see every thermal in the sky with 100's of birds of prey is a sight never to forget. Each thermal contains hundreds and more keep coming to feast on this abundant seasonal resource. Added to this is the incredible sound of the breeding queleas and their chicks begging for their own food.

This is a place to just sit and see what happens.

Posted: Ngala by Alastair Kilpin, Date: 13 February 2011

 
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