We have come to the end of April and my dreams of getting caught up with all my tasks are the smoldering remains of my organizational dumpster fire. I’m going sun up to whenever the eyes and muscles give out as the witching hour descends and yet here I sit with 10 Halloween props in various states, gigs of images to process, blogs I follow that I still need to read and relentless task around the Intrigued HQ lot that taunt me on a daily basis. Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying every minute of it, especially since some of those daily hours are now spent with wind in the hair and lugs eating dirt on the trails – life is good! I need to get back to work in the Haunt Lab, so Brad is going to once again take the wheel and bring you another exciting adventure from down under. Now to crank up some Soft White Underbellies (guessing you know the band by a newer name – link here and here).
in honor of today’s post and get back to carving a 28″x28″x30″ gargoyle head.
Take it away Brad…
Sometimes being in the right place and the right time, with a camera, is the best strategy. It also helps to be where the birds are . . . just sayin’.
While on assignment in Tasmania, Jan and I were on the back end of a day travelling via motor coach. We visited Port Arthur, historically one of the most notorious penal colonies in Australia. Port Arthur was the place criminals were sent when they were too “bad” for the other penal colonies. By “criminal”, I mean someone that might have stolen a 2”x2” piece of cloth, for example, from their employer. Or maybe someone that stole a crust of bread from a baker to feed their family. Many were given the choice of death in Britain (pretty harsh sentences then) or be sent to the penal colonies in either southeastern America or Australia. Around 1840, the young United States of America said “No more criminals” to the British, so Australia became Britain’s favorite penal colony destination. Many “criminals” didn’t survive the trip to Australia. I think this is why Australians today have such a strong sense of equality, fairness and self-reliance. Sounds like something from the 1700’s in a certain startup country in North America. If we don’t learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it.
Enough history, back to the story at hand. We had been on and off the motorcoach most of the day. On our way back from Port Arthur, we crossed a small bridge over the Denison Canal near the town of Dunalley on the island Tasmania, south of Australia. Our coach driver said, “Oh look, there’s Neil the Seal”. If you were to use your favorite search engine and enter “Neil the Seal” you would find several articles and even a profile for him. Go ahead, I’ll wait right hear while you go look. Neil is a juvenile Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina) still a couple of years away from developing their distinctive long schnoz. Southern Elephant Seals are the largest seals in the world, with males weighing up to 3,700 kilograms (or over 8,000 pounds). Neil is thought to be only five years old so he has quite a bit of growing left in his predicted 20-ish year life span.
As if that wasn’t excitement enough…hit the jump for more surprises!
However, Neil is not the subject of today’s story. Our coach driver safely pulled into the parking area next to the canal and our tour group all got out for a stretch and a few photos. While Jan and I were photographing Neil torment some large fish he had caught, several Silver Gulls (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) were making runs at the bits that were flying off. Yes, the gulls are +1’s, but they aren’t even the best part of the story (stay tuned for that upcoming post).
Photographing Neil and the giant splashes of water was quite fun. Then this large white bird swoops in from the left, talons extended, hoping for a morsel for its trouble.
Before I get too far along, let me make a few disclaimers. The forecast for the day was probably 80% rain. I chose to leave the big glass in the hotel in Hobart where it was safe and dry. As our tour guide Graeme was fond of reminding us, 80% chance of rain means there’s a 20% chance of no rain. Always the optimist. As our bus stopped, we must have been in the “20% chance of no rain” part of the day. We had only taken along the 18-200mm touring lenses for the day. They do a marvelous job on static subjects, but not so well with action photos with very bright backgrounds. Small glass and slow f-stops don’t always translate to sharp wildlife photography, especially when the wildlife is moving, er, flying through the scene. OK, I think I’ve covered all of the excuses (have to keep the Legal department happy), now back to the story.
It was a White-bellied Sea Eagle (Icthyophaga leucogaster) and definitely a +1 for us. They are also known as a White-breasted Sea Eagle or White-breasted/bellied Fish-Eagle. One group of aboriginals called this bird Djilyon, pronounced “chill’yon”. This one was trying to grab large chunks of fish from Neil while he was thrashing around in the water.
We watched several feints, but didn’t see the eagle get anything of substance for all of its efforts. Same with the colony of gulls: lots of noise and commotion, but none came away with any significant bits of food.
White-bellied Sea Eagles are related to the North American Bald Eagle, though are a bit smaller. A White-bellied can have a wingspan up to 220cm (7.0 feet) as compared with a Bald Eagle at 240cm (8 feet). Bald Eagles also outweigh them at 3.6-6.4kg (10-14 lbs.) compared to the lighter White-bellied topping out at 4.5kg (about 10 lbs.).
The name suggests a white belly, and it would be correct. For once, a bird’s name matches a physical description available to a casual observer. From the bottom, they are all white except for the trailing half of the wings which is charcoal coloured. (Aussie spellings again) From the top, it’s a different story. Their backs and the tops of their wings can grey to charcoal coloured, like a Bald Eagle, with a wide stripe of white at the end of their tail.
Sites vary on the risk to White-Bellied Sea Eagles. One says the White-bellied Sea Eagle is listed as being of Least Concern with worldwide populations estimated between 10,000 and 100,000 individual birds. Another says specific populations of White-bellied Sea Eagles are rated as “Vulnerable” because of human activities (off-roading and development) disturbing nesting behaviours. Both are probably correct. Poisons and pesticides are contributing to their decline as well. Their current range is coastal Australia, New Guinea and most of southeast Asia including the coasts of India.
This second largest raptor in Australia eats mainly aquatic fare, but doesn’t turn down a small land mammal if offered. They have been known to take birds as large as a swan, or eat carrion found along the waterline.
The White-Bellied Sea Eagle builds a large stick nest about 30 meters (100 feet) above the ground, similar to Bald Eagles in North America. The female lines the nest with fresh leaves, grass, and twigs. She also does most of the incubation duties for their two-egg average clutch size. The eggs hatch after about 40 days, and the young are ready to leave the nest in the next 65 to 85 days. Once able to fly, juveniles will stick around the parents for a few months before striking out on their own. Juvenile eagles are brownish and don’t get their white bellies until adulthood. White-Bellied Sea Eagles mate for life, but will quickly seek a new partner if a mate dies.
I’ve seen raptors make dramatic turns before, but haven’t been able to capture them quite like this. No, this photo isn’t rotated 90-degrees, it is presented in its original orientation. This eagle is keeping a very close eye on its quarry (not the place where stone is extracted), trying to gauge its attack angle and approach.
Thank you for reading. If you want to see more White-bellied Eagle photos, please visit here. If you want to see more Neil the Seal photos, visit here.
Credits
Thanks again to Jan for proofreading and editing. Thanks to Jan for many of the photos in this story.
Wildlife Intrigued 