This individual was first seen in open scrubland near a water body far away from any forest. It was very well merged with the dried and undulated piece of land due to the white and brown spots on the overall body. For a long time its presence remained unnoticed until it started to kill the serpent it had grabbed. It was too late and close for me to find this new discovery of the place and strategise my plan of capturing this majesty through the lens. As a result the Eagle hardly gave 2-3 shots through the knee-high grass. It calmly grabbed the snake and flew away to the nearest shaded area.

Now the new location was the backyard of an institute fenced with steel mesh and barbed wire leaving me no option but to shoot the Serpent Eagle through the mesh. The eagle started brunching on the dead snake now, often mobbed by the crows and the babblers which surrounded. Also the perch was uncomfortable, as the leg of the raptor was continuously slipping from the slanting trunk. Soon after realising the big ‘hungama’ about to happen the eagle flew away to a secure perch, a top of a compound wall in the other corner. Now in order to reach this corner I had to walk sideways on the bund wall on which the wire mesh and the barbed wires were secured, holding the wire in one hand and the camera in the other. There was almost risk of falling on the outer side of the fence which was enclosed by a stinking waterbody. But the risk was carefully taken to reach the other side and was well rewarded by the Eagle.

An interesting behaviour of the species is that if the Eagle feels threatened, it opens up the feathers on the head (as the peafowl does with its tail feathers during courtship). This adds to the size of the eagle and might scare the threat away. The bird repeated this several times to the mobbing crows and finally flew away to a distant location with the prey.

Several views of this behaviour were recorded before the final flight and the moments still remain very memorable. - SM