They were circling above a spot in nature and I decided to investigate.
A Happy Friday to all. Here above was the youngster and I will show you what they were after. (Prey of course)
I knew that there had to be some animal or young birds that they were after, but nothing was going to happen on my watch and as we reached the area where they were circling, I jumped out of the car to have a closer look.
The youngster came down closer to have a look at me.
And his mom was right above him. They are called African Harrier Hawks (Polyboroides typus) and their old name was "Gymnogene"
The African harrier-hawk is omnivorous, eating the fruit of the oil palm as well as hunting small vertebrates. Its ability to climb, using wings as well as feet, and its long double-jointed legs, enable this bird to raid the nests of cavity-nesters such as barbets and woodhoopoes for eggs and nestlings. It has been known to prey on introduced species such as feral pigeons, house sparrows and eastern gray squirrels.
Source
I saw what they were after and I stood and waved my arms, as they fear humans as much as the little birds fear them.
So they circled higher in the air and maybe they thought that I had a stick that makes a loud noise and that can kill them (A rifle).
Finally they started to go away with the youngster squawking and leading his mom.
**This is what the hawks wanted to attack! **
The Egyptian Geese also saw the hawks and they saw me, so they hustled their babies to the denser parts near a river.
You can see the mom at the right was watching the sky.
The little gosslings were saved to live another day.
Almost as if the babies were saying thank you to me for being around.
Oh yes, the harrier hawks are very interesting birds, as their legs are double jointed that enables them with the ability to climb trees.
Small birds normally mob the hawks when they come near their nests, but the hawks are very aggresive and they simply go in and grab the babies.
Can you believe that now, right now we have snow a few days before the official start of the Spring season. And much rain and even hail as usual, but I will show you in my second post later today.
And That's All Friends.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX60HS Bridge camera.
We hope that you have enjoyed the story and the pictures.
