Spread-eagled

Brown Snake Eagle’s epic tussle

- By Pietman Muller

Brown Snake Eagles are common in the Kruger National Park and are often seen perched on the uppermost branches of trees, their upright posture distinctive. Their intense yellow eyes fascinate me and are, for me, the final confirmation of identity. That piercing stare gives me the shivers and I’m glad I am not a snake. I often told my wife Alma that the day would come when I would get pictures of one with a snake. Early in January 2021, between Crocodile Bridge and Lower Sabie in the Kruger National Park, this dream was fulfilled in a spectacular way.

On 10 January we leftcamp as soon as the gate opened and set offon the H4-2 Crocodile Bridge road in the direction of Lower Sabie, hoping to see a leopard. Just past the S28 turn-off, we saw a Brown Snake Eagle perched at the top of a dead tree just to the left of the tar road, overlooking the bare, brackish patch around the first part of the dirt road. It was our third Brown Snake Eagle sighting of the morning and we decided to watch it for a while. Why this specific one I cannot really say, but perhaps it was because the bare veld the bird was surveying looked as though it might offer up something.