ST Snake eagle

Gallery: AvianPosted April 11, 2012527 views9 comments

There are 5 snake eagle varieties in East Africa, and I wasn't sure which one this was. It surely wasn't the Brown Snake Eagle, which is dark brown overall, or the Southern Banded Snake Eagle (which isn't found in the Serengeti area of Tanzania). The Black-chested Snake Eagle is different, too; so, this narrowed it down to either the Western Banded Snake Eagle or the Short-toed Snake Eagle. The former has banding restricted to the lower belly, while the latter has barring all over the breast. This is probably a subadult, and lacks the adult's dark brown upper breast.
Anyway, the bird also looks a little confused!

Species: Short-toed Snake Eagle (Circaetus gallicus)
Location: Ndutu, Tanzania
Date: May 2011
Equip: Canon 1D Mlll, Canon 500 f4
Specs: ISO 400, f6.3, 1/1250s, beanbag on vehicle.

Thank you for taking the time out to look, and for your comments/critiques

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on April 11, 2012 at 10:30 AM

Wonderful pose, Ajit!

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on April 11, 2012 at 11:02 AM

Nice detail in this and the pose is great!

Registered on October 29, 2011, 92 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on April 11, 2012 at 11:44 AM

Love the pose! Don't know if he is confused, curious, or has poor eyesight!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Frye on April 11, 2012 at 11:56 AM

Killer pose and nicely exposed

Registered on February 3, 2007, 387 Posts, 1136 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on April 11, 2012 at 1:15 PM

I like the pose and your composition a lot, and the colors are also really nice, Ajit.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on April 11, 2012 at 2:57 PM

Pretty funny look! Nice job catching that moment.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on April 11, 2012 at 3:04 PM

Wonderful pose and what a look, those eyes really draw you in, nice job in getting this, way to go.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on April 11, 2012 at 4:58 PM

The pose is great. A slight halo around the bird to my eye. Overall, a very nice shot.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on April 11, 2012 at 11:20 PM

Neat capture Ajit. Love the head turn and the yellow eyes. Looks confused.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments