Part of a 16 shot sequence of a Sea Eagle stealling a morsel from the beak of a Pelican on the Tweed River. Had I not seen and captured this sequence I would not have believed it possible.
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Congratulations thats an amazing picture ... would love to see any more of that sequence you care to post.
Great job having the camera ready and getting the picture .. were you concentrating on the pelican or the sea eagle?
I have seen pelicans losing fish out of their bills and trying to scoop them up again - they might not be the best at hanging on to what they catch.
OK, not sure if I'm allowed to do this, but here is a link to to a collage from 12 of the photos. I was concentrating on the Sea Eagle, and only realised how lucky I had been when I looked at the full sequence - one of those times when it was more good luck than good planning.
http://timroberts.zenfolio.com/p335447310/h260b518d#h260b518d
Tim
Fantastic ... thanks for showing the whole sequence its really incredible.
Seems to me the sea eagle must have done that trick before and knew how the pelican would react to a bit of bullying. Amazing flying skill by the sea eagle to get in and scare the pelican into dropping his lunch.
Cheeky bugger!
Great capture!
Wow, that must have been amazing to see.Have to wonder why the dope of a pelican opened its mouth for the sea eagle?
Probably its natural response to a threat - look big and scarey. Eagle is exploiting this.
I found on Wikipedia ....
Sea Eagles " harass smaller raptors such as Swamp Harriers, Whistling Kites, Brahminy Kites and Ospreys, forcing them to drop any food that they are carrying. The White-bellied Sea Eagle attacks these birds by striking them with outstretched talons from above or by flying upside down underneath the smaller predator and snatching the prey, all the while screeching shrilly. Southern Fur Seals have also been targeted for their fish."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-bellied_Sea_Eagle#Feeding
Whaaat?! This is an amazing sight! Thanks for sharing, timrob.
That's really interesting, Whistling Duck!
I know this is not really bird-related, but I just saw this video today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGz-NIBZwEw#t=35
Pelican in the background looks as though he's saying "Curse youuu!!! I was going to do that!"
nice "theft" video!
Also thankyou for the info re Sea Eagles Whistling Duck, it seems that they are quite the acrobat when it comes to nicking someone else's food.
Tim
great shot
See it! Hear it!
Mid-North Coast NSW
What a fantastic sequence to capture ..... it really is amazing! Well done !
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Awesome photo!
Barney.