Our local Black Eagles at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden have survived the storm that wreaked havoc in Roodepoort.
There was huge concern for the mating pair and their juvenile, Ayanda, as the storm pelted down on Monday, 9 October. Dougie Crewe, a volunteer at the Black Eagle Project, was in the garden at about 6am to check on them.
“When I first saw them, I couldn’t see the juvenile at all and I thought we might have lost Ayanda,” Dougie said. The two adults sat on either side of the nest both looking rather dishevelled, still wet with their feathers ruffled.
“The hail must have hit them judging by the male’s feathers. I could see a white feather on his beak,” he said. Dougie said the eagles must have taken cover in a cave near their nest. He said the storm was strong enough to kill the eagles and the juvenile if they had remained on the nest. “After a while, I noticed the female had moved and a tiny spot of brown feathers could be seen. At that point, I knew Ayanda had made it,” Dougie said.
Read more: Calling all bird watchers!
The eagles returned to their majestic selves once they had dried off. They took to the air in search of food and as Dougie described it, “dived down in pursuit of a guinea fowl that just managed to escape their claws”.
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