Soaring High

There is a beauty in this bird………the Indian Spotted eagle. Look at it from any angle, its flight is perfect and effortless, terror and excitement grips you when you see it hunt and the easy maneuvers it does in flight.



I managed to get close enough to an Indian spotted eagle in flight and the photographs that came out even surprised me. It’s a stocky bird, around 60-65cm in length, falling under the mid size category of birds of prey. Essentially brown in color, it appears lighter, slimmer and less bulky in flight.



In mumbai, I have seen this bird of prey frequently being irritated by crows. I have seen the eagles flight plan disrupted a number of times by crows that don’t allow this bird to come anywhere close to their nest.

This perticular pair of Spotted eagle made their nest on top of a crane that was not in operation for a last couple of months. The recession in the building industry was proving to be beneficial for these birds. I have seen them once to often sitting on the crane with their wings spread, probably sunbathing.