Greetings all, I’ve just returned from a week at Strathburn Cattle Station which lies 120 kms north west of Musgrave Station on Cape York. The birding was fascinating but the following story from two locals who verified the tale to me independently got me thinking. The two station hands were having a break by a very large swamp which is about 6 kms around its perimeter. It was April this year just after the wet season. They noticed a White-bellied Sea-eagle carrying something as it was flying across the swamp. It dropped its bundle from a height of about 150 meters and flew on. A few minutes later both men were stunned when a tiny piglet swam ashore and raced under their vehicle, screaming in terror. They caught the piglet and noted talon marks on its body. The Sea-eagle came back and circled the centre of the swamp seemingly searching for something. It was an interesting yarn and I’m sure the two observers weren’t just having me on. My question is, is this typical Sea-eagle behavior? I’d be interested if anyone else has heard of similar observations. regards, Gary Oliver =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Obviously the turtles at Gunbower did not have the same luck as Myrtle the Turtle, in Les Barkers great parody, “May the Turtle be Unbroken”. Probably not enough caretakers. Cheers, Carl Clifford On 30/09/2013, at 10:10, brian fleming < flambeau@labyrinth.net.au> wrote: =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
When we were at Gunbower on the Murray some years ago, there were lots of turtle shells, lying about in the camping area and on roads and tracks. Many were broken. People there told me that they were not very often run over by cars, but that Sea-Eagles drop them from a height to smash them and eat the contents. Not a thing you’d want dropped on your head. Readers of Terry Pratchett will remember /Small Gods/. Classical scholars will remember Aeschylus. Anthea Fleming On 30/09/2013 9:14 AM, Philip Veerman wrote: =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Interesting story. I would believe it. About the only thing I know of that is similar is of some other eagle species catching tortoises and flying up high to drop them on rocks, the Lammergeier is reported to do the same with big bones. There are a few possibilities or questions. Did the Sea-Eagle intentionally drop the piglet in the swamp, in which the benefit may be to hope it would drown, but as their usual prey is adept in the water, that would seem to be a dumb strategy, or did it lose grip maybe of a struggling animal as it happened to be flying over the swamp? Did these guys keep the piglet or help the Sea-Eagle get its meal or leave it to die some other way presumably? Philip —–Original Message—– [mailto:birding-aus-bounces@lists.vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of gg.oliver@bigpond.com Sent: Monday, 30 September 2013 7:17 AM Greetings all, I’ve just returned from a week at Strathburn Cattle Station which lies 120 kms north west of Musgrave Station on Cape York. The birding was fascinating but the following story from two locals who verified the tale to me independently got me thinking. The two station hands were having a break by a very large swamp which is about 6 kms around its perimeter. It was April this year just after the wet season. They noticed a White-bellied Sea-eagle carrying something as it was flying across the swamp. It dropped its bundle from a height of about 150 meters and flew on. A few minutes later both men were stunned when a tiny piglet swam ashore and raced under their vehicle, screaming in terror. They caught the piglet and noted talon marks on its body. The Sea-eagle came back and circled the centre of the swamp seemingly searching for something. It was an interesting yarn and I’m sure the two observers weren’t just having me on. My question is, is this typical Sea-eagle behavior? I’d be interested if anyone else has heard of similar observations. regards, Gary Oliver =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================