Reporting Date: 12th october 2011.
 

Martial eagle misses Klipspringer.

Klipspringers are members of the dwarf antelopes whose major habitats are the rocky outcrops (kopjes). On these habitats they have to be alert because a good number  of  predators  rely on them as their food source.  On this particular day, ranger Deus was on a morning game drive with his guests  when  on a tree by some kopjes they saw an  immature martial eagle  looking down on some three kilpspringers. One of these Klipspringers  was  a baby while the other two were its parents. From the look of things, the young  kilipspringer was the target of the Martial eagle. The Klipspringers were at first unaware of the eagle’s  presence  and it was as though they had  moved under  the tree after the eagle had perched on it.  Whenever  the  baby moved a little, the eagle would turn his head sideways to have a better sight at it. This happened for a while until the Klipspringers walked to a nearby rock when the eagle finally decided to make a move. He dived at them, aiming at the baby with its sharp talons from an angle but the older  ones had already seen him coming and quickly dashed into a nearby hole with the baby following as they made the characteristic whistling  alarm sound. He had waited too long to strike perhaps because he was an immature martial eagle.

NB: * = Same animals seen by different rangers