AN UNUSUAL INCIDENT

Some time ago we stayed at Sirheni Bushveld Camp in the Kruger National Park. As good luck would have it and contrary to the normal useless information at Sanparks reservations in Pretoria, we had the camp to ourselves for three days. What an experience!

The area had quite a bit of rain. Outside the park it must have rained a lot, as the river feeding the Sirheni dam at the camp was full, and the dam was overflowing.

One late afternoon we took our binoculars and strolled through the camp looking for new birds. As we got the edge of the camp next to the banks of the dam, we spotted a fish eagle pecking away at a large fish, while perching on a branch of a dead tree. Ilse noticed something and said: “Look at that!”

Near the Fish Eagle, a Goliath heron was standing in the shallow water of the muddy river at the edge of the river bank.  A Grey heron has just landed near the Goliath heron. The Grey heron had a large fish in its beak and it started walking slowly for a few metres, until it reached the Goliath heron. Then, to our surprise, it offered the fish to the Goliath heron.

It seemed that a tug of war happened for a few seconds, with the Grey heron holding one side and the Goliath heron holding the other side of the fish. Suddenly the fish was broken in half. Each bird then proceeded to eat a piece of the fish, after which they stood side by side for a while until the Grey heron lifted its wings and flew off.

This unique experience caused me to wonder about the interaction of the birds.  I came to a few conclusions. Firstly, maybe the Grey heron knew that the fish was too big and took it to the Goliath heron, which has a much larger and stronger beak, to cut the fish into smaller pieces.  Secondly, the Grey heron might have lost its nest and young ones, and was still in breeding mode.

Perhaps there might be another explanation.

This experience show that man can still learn a lot from nature and if one really observe and not just look, there are all kinds of wonders in nature waiting to unfold.