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Birds of Prey
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Credits: Andrew Keys
Unbelievable sighting: Eagle catches young impala Posted: December 29, 2017  *This image is copyright of its original author © Andrew KeysWritten, and photographs, by Andrew Keys Early one November morning I went out to the Nooitgedacht farm in the Magaliesberg in South Africa – about 70 kms west of Johannesburg. I go up there quite often to check on the resident pair of Verreaux’s eagles and their recently fledged juvenile, I am very privileged to be able to go up there as it is private property, I used to be a neighbour of the owners. There are about 12 pairs of Verreaux’s Eagles resident in the Magaliesberg.  *This image is copyright of its original author © Andrew KeysWhilst sitting on the edge of the mountain I noticed the two adult resident Verreaux’s eagles circling far below just above the valley floor. The female, which is huge, suddenly swooped down, I heard loud squealing and it looked like the bird was attacking an impala! I frantically grabbed my camera and saw the bird going in for another attack but the impala saw it off.  *This image is copyright of its original author © Andrew KeysI then spotted a female impala run off with a young one in tow, the eagle swooped in again and despite the desperate efforts of the mother the eagle grabbed the young one and glided off down the valley with the male behind it, disappearing into the trees. Then there was blood curdling squealing, which suddenly stopped, and that was the end of the young impala.  *This image is copyright of its original author © Andrew KeysI have never seen this happen before as it is extremely rare to see these eagles make a kill like this as rock hyrax make up more than 90% of their diet – although if need be they can be opportunistic hunters. They hunt mostly on the wing by stooping from a height or swooping around a corner of a cliff, thereby surprising their prey. As in this case pairs often hunt co-operatively: one draws the prey’s attention while the other attacks. What an experience, one can only be in awe of the power and strength of these magnificent predators of the mountains!  *This image is copyright of its original author © Andrew Keys
 (01-02-2018, 12:49 AM)Fredymrt Wrote: Credits: Andrew KeysIncredible pictures incredible moment.
Credits to Ross Couper
SPIRITED: A spirited win for one, is a soulful cry from another!  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Here you can see part of conservation of golden eagles in Finland. Speaking is in finnish, so not too much in that for anyone not finnish. But from 1:30-3:45 you can see how eagles are helped by making ready nests to them in good places. There seems to be some problems in some areas for eagles to find suitable trees what comes to branches, so they are now helped this way. This man tells, that most ready nests are used by eagles.
 "An immature Crested Serpent-eagle takes on a Rat Snake at the Keoladeo National Park." Keoladeo National Park or Keoladeo Ghana National Park formerly "the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary" is in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. Photographer :@ashish_inamdar1979 Credit :@naturein_focus
Here is just one link to see Harpy eagle "handshake". It is giving a good way to understand size of talons.
https://imgur.com/gallery/riqej8I No other raptor is known to cooperatively hunt in groups as routinely as the Harris hawk. These small family packs, usually made up of around 2-7 birds, work together to catch their prey. In fact, these cooperative groups are more successful at capturing prey than lone hawks. They are truly the wolves of the sky. 
Golden eagle at Nesbyen.
Very rare colour morph, also said to very old 20+ years  *This image is copyright of its original author
Eurasian Eagle Owl, with an impressive prey. A black backed gull
 *This image is copyright of its original author
Massive female goshawk grabs common buzzard.
Norway, Rogaland.  *This image is copyright of its original author
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