I have told you before that the little birds fear this killer in the sky.
Today I caught him at his ultimate best, with his prey.
This is what they now call an African Harrier Hawk and we have always known him as a Gymnogene. I think that the original gymnogene name was given because he can perform gymnastics by climbing trees and creep into roof spaces with his double jointed knees. Specially designed for him to get into difficult places where the birds build their nests. These hawks are the biggest of the hawk family in Africa and yes, he is a big boy that can at times even lift a squirrel, or a small dog. A notorious nest raider and when he is around, no one is safe.
Note, I could have placed this post in the 
This is the African Harrier Hawk (Polyboroides typus).
Wikipedia has this to say about the harrier hawk;
African harrier-hawks are a common raptorial species south of the Sahara being most commonly found in the tropical regions of western Africa becoming less common in East and South Africa. African harrier-hawks are adaptable in their habitat preferences, occupying the following habitats in the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve in the Central African Republic: thick rainforest, forest edge, riparian areas, agricultural land and human occupied areas. African harrier-hawks are adaptable and able to live in both urban and rural human occupied areas and they are one of the most common raptorial species in traditional rural villages of eastern Guinea-Bissau. African harrier-hawks have also been known to breed in Palm trees present in cities and urban gardens.
The less said here below the better.
I knew his thoughts as he glared at me.; Say mate, what are you looking at and why don't you mind your own business!
My wife fidgeted next to me in the car when she saw the small bird opening its beak, as it was still alive.
But the hawk fluffed and I knew that it was going to fly.
Yep! And then it was gone, taking its meal with it.
And so, it was some exceptional sights to start our day, especially as we had to negotiate 4 power cuts today. We were notified via our phone app that the power will be off today at the following times. 0:00-2:30am, 8am-10:30am, 4pm-6:30pm and 10pm to 12:30am. So, that is 8 hours lost in the day. What a mess!
One of our friends, a CEO of a large charity returned from a trip to Amsterdam and we had to figure out an appropriate time between the power cuts and our other work for a meeting. Thankfully we could manage, and the meeting was good.
I even had the bonus of getting the hawk on camera near our house when we left this morning, and some great photos always inspire me with confidence for the rest of the day.
So, I hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and the story.
And That's All Friends.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.
