FISH EAGLE MISTAKES CROCODILE FOR A “BIG FISH”!!!- Article by Gareth Jones

“BIG FISH” NEARLY CATCHES FISH EAGLE

We recently witnessed an incredible event at the Hyena dam in the Nairobi National Park. A fish eagle landed on the bank of the dam and stood for a while. Then it suddenly took off and flew rapidly up as it swooped and dived down with its talons outstretched, as if to try and catch a nice big fish, however, this “big fish” turned out to be a crocodile. The crocodile responded in a flash and nearly succeeded in pulling the fish eagle under the water. After a brief struggle, amazingly the fish eagle had enough strength to break free …..and live another day!!! I wonder if the fish eagle saw movement near the water surface and mistakenly tried to catch a “big fish“ crocodile? It’s difficult the try and understands why? One probability is that the angle of the sun on the water might have a blinding refection that only allowed the fish eagle partial sight, as it saw a flash of movement on the top of the water. That flash of movement was most likely the snout of a crocodile that I estimate was over 2 meters in length. The fish eagle actually flew directly onto the head of the crocodile with its talons trying to grab this “big fish”. We truly did witness a very rare occurrence.

There is something regally royal about eagles. Fish eagles are among my favourite raptors and to have eagles living so close to a major city is unique. This fish eagle was blessed to live another day and will hopefully catch some real fish in the future.