Janine was given a front row seat to watch the skilled stork hunt for a snake as it waded out of the reeds and into the water, on spindly legs.
Saddle-billed storks legs can be as long as 36,5cm, allowing for them to wade in shallow water, in search of food.
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These impressive birds use precision and patience to hunt for prey. Their long bill is like a hunter’s spear and they will use this to both catch and then subdue their prey, before feasting.
Saddle-billed stork wades out of reeds in search of food
Janine explains that she had been idly scanning the river with her binoculars to see what she could find, when the saddle-billed stork waded out of the reeds.
With their impressive stature, saddle-billed storks can be hard to miss!
They grow to a height of 1,5 metres and have a wingspan of 2,4 to 2,7 metres. This makes them large and imposing. With their vibrant colouring, they are special birds to spot and add to a birdwatcher’s checklist.
“We really love these birds, so I watched him for a while and then realised that he had found something in the water,” says Janine.
It was a good thing that she had her camera on hand. She quickly grabbed the camera, hoping to get some action footage. This bird was up to something.
It seems that it had eyed something in the water. Using its long beak, it darted its neck down with precision, capturing something beneath the water’s surface.
Stork catches prey in full view of spectators
When it lifted its head up again, it held a snake in its beak. It had captured the snake by its tail!
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“As I continued to film, the people around us started taking an interest in what we were watching, and I think you can pick up in the video the growing excitement as they too realize what it is that he’s got,” says Janine.
For the bird, it was lunch as usual – however, for Janine, a conventional lunch break was turned into something extraordinary.
Bird disappears from sight
Janine says they eventually lost sight of the bird. “Being at a restaurant table on the deck overlooking the river, there was nowhere else to go – so we don’t know how it ended.”
She says the snake looked like it might have been a small python, and she believes it possibly didn’t end to well for the creature. “My advice with game and bird-watching is always to be still, quiet and patient. You never know what will play out; or what will walk out of nowhere when you least expect it!”
This special moment was a reminder that sightings can happen at anytime and anywhere in the game reserve. Had Janine’s focus been too much on her own lunch, she might’ve missed another very special lunch!
Saddle-billed storks usually eat fish, frogs and crabs; however, they have also been known to feed on birds, small mammals, and reptiles, such as this snake.