Lanner Falcon mobbing Crowned Hawk-eagle

There is nothing like the excitement of an aerial tussle between raptors. This spat occurred after this Crowned Hawk-Eagle lifted through airspace that appeared to belong to a pair of Lanner Falcons. The feisty falcons looked to have the upperhand but the Hawk-eagle continued to rise and then thermalled away with a Steppe Buzzard. Only moments earlier a Verreaux's Eagle had cruised over. This bumper crop was atypical of my recent trip to Malawi. Although I managed to notch up 25 species of raptors over the fortnight, most sightings were of individual birds, and for 15 of those species, a single sighting was all that I managed.

Crowned Hawk-Eagle, Mount Mulanje, Malawi

I have returned recently from a trip to Malawi. A work trip rather than a birding trip, but there was a fair opportunity to use the long lens from time to time. Wildlife appeared to be thin on the ground given the subsistence nature of most of Malawi's human population. Tree cutting, fire-assisted poaching and snare poaching appeared to be widespread even in protected areas. While I sympathise with the plight of those who are in need, at the current rate of habitat destruction I think Malawi will likely lose its status as a serious birding destination in the very near future. More on that in a future post...

For the time being here was one of the birding highlights for me in Malawi. After 3 days of trekking through the ashes of what was nominally Mount Mulanje Forest Reserve, I spotted this Crowned Hawk-Eagle roosting in the canopy along an unburnt ridge. It then took to the air and powered up into the sky - an unfeasibly large raptor maneuvering the broadest wings imaginable to grab the necessary lift to make it into a thermal. I'd like to say that I was left speechless but instead one of my colleagues was treated to some rather colourful language instead...