Where eagles soar and vultures feed
During a recent trip to the Berg, Deon Delport paid a visit to the Falcon Ridge Bird of Prey centre, where the rehabilitated creatures demonstrate their hunting and flying skills
THE WAHLBERG eagle had been on the wing for a day, having taken part in the Falcon Ridge raptor show 24 hours earlier and was now effortlessly soaring above us.
Before our show could begin, he had to be coaxed down or the peregrine falcon and crested eagle owl would not show off their skills knowing the eagle could have them for lunch.
Trainers Greg and Alison McBey eventually managed to bribe him down.
The show is one of the highlights of a visit to the central Berg, to see the displays at Falcon Ridge Bird of Prey centre, where rehabilitated birds demonstrate their hunting and flying skills.
Between 15 and 30 raptors, from small owls to vultures, are kept in their own enclosures and visitors can view them, before or after the show. These are held at 10.30am every day, except for Monday and Fridays, and last about an hour.
The Wahlberg eagle landed on the top of his enclosure, probably hungry and cold after his jaunt.
Greg then introduced the audience to a peregrine falcon that was being rehabilitated. It had arrived at the centre in poor shape, he said, and had to be encouraged to catch prey on the wing. He took off the sort of hood used by falconers – these fool the bird into thinking it is night time – and released it to fly off over the valley, seeking out thermals to gain height.
A piece of chicken attached to a cord was the lure and Greg swung this in an arc over his head, watching the falcon. As the bird bore down on the food he would jerk it out of its path at the last second and the falcon would climb into the sky before having another go. It was exhilarating stuff.
As we watched, Greg spoke about its hunting technique and the way its body was adapted for the task. Apparently, they can withstand a G-force of 16, which is double that of a jet fighter pilot wearing a specially designed suit to prevent him or her from blacking out.
He let the bird snatch the chicken and it settled happily on his gloved hand to tuck into the snack, while Greg pointed out features of its anatomy.
Next up was the crested eagle owl which hunts at night. The trainers pointed out how the bird kept a sharp lookout, head swivelling this way and that, to make sure no bigger raptor was around.
They demonstrated how silently the bird could fly, swooping soundlessly over the heads of the audience before being rewarded with the obligatory chicken neck.
Talons
Chris then brought out a black eagle, also known as Verreaux’s eagle, a magnificent bird with talons like daggers that are driven into the skull of prey, killing them instantly.
The eagle flew down the valley, seeking thermals and did not return for the rest of the show. Greg surmised it had encountered crows that also live in cliffs along the valley, and they might have pestered the bird into seeking a quieter time elsewhere.
Finally, it was the turn of the fish eagle. There were two sitting on perches close to the audience. The male had been nursed back to health only to be shot in the shoulder by a farmer’s son, and could not live in the wild.
The one that would do the display was a larger female, which also could not be released in the wild because she thought she was a human, and would kill any fish eagle that approached her.
Alison explained the egg had been taken out of a nest and hatched and within a short time the bird would have been imprinted to think it was human. They grow quickly and are sold to sangomas for muti.
This female had been rescued from a market. She had come to the centre via another bird sanctuary where she had been left in an enclosure after constantly attacking the trainer. She was in poor condition, not having exercised. It had taken several months of patient coaxing to get her to fly well enough to take part in the show.
Next to the display area a small dam has been built. The fish eagle flew off, rapidly gaining height, before the trainers threw a lure on to the water and the bird in a breathtaking display, swooped out of the sun, to take it off the water. It was the classic image of a fish eagle hunting and delighted the crowd.
The bird came to perch on Alison’s gloved hand while she spoke about the species and their hunting technique.
During question time we heard about the naughty white-backed vulture that was now banned from the show, because the bird would put his head into women’s handbags, trying to find edible goodies. In the wild they will stick their heads into the insides of dead animals, looking for tasty morsels in the carcass.
Vultures are much in demand in the muti trade, she said, and conservationists feared they would soon be extinct. They have phenomenal eyesight and on seeing carrion, dip their wings in a way that would tell other vultures, sometimes 50kms distant, they had found something. Within an hour 20 vultures could be feeding on a carcass.
Because of their legendary eyesight, inyangas sell muti containing the crushed heads to people who wanted to gamble on the lottery, or look into the future. Animal carcasses were sprayed with insecticide and left in the open, attracting the birds, which ingest the poison and die agonising deaths. Rhino poachers were also targeting vultures because their movements alerted rangers to kills before the poachers had made their escape.
Vulture numbers in the northern Berg were plummeting fast, Alison said. In the central Berg, there were still colonies.
Apparently, the SA Air Force, whose helicopter pilots are based at Dragons Peak hotel, while they train in the mountains, help conservationists by counting the birds in the colonies.
During our stay, I had seen the helicopters coming and going and it was good to know they were helping these vulnerable fellow flyers.
Adults: R85, children uner 12 R40. For more information: Falcon Ridge Bird of Prey Centre, Champagne Valley, Drakensberg, call 082 774 6398.