Little Bully

[Morkel Erasmus]

The fork-tailed drongo has to be the "Jack Russel" of the African bush. These feisty little birds don't mind their own size. I have seen them a few times harassing large birds of prey when the latter make the mistake of coming too close to the drongo's nesting territory. I have never been able to capture a decent shot of that behaviour...but this December past I did!

We were travelling out of the Kruger Park on our last day. I stopped to capture this yellow-billed kite sitting in sweet morning light, hoping for a take-off shot. I sat and clicked away but the kite wasn't budging.

I was about to give up and started to move the lens away from the window when I heard a frantic chirping sound that made me swing the lens back to the window. I knew a drongo was on its way!

I saw the drongo coming from the left and positioned myself for him chasing the kite off to the right. The kite ended up taking off and banking to the left, but not before I got this shot off...

It's a pity I could only post this 800px high since there's so much detail here. You can even see the cricket in the drongo's mouth on the larger size file.

All comments most welcome.

Techs:
Nikon D300s with Nikkor 200-400mm VR @ 400mm
f5.6 @ 1/1600 SS @ ISO-400

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Interesting behavior captured. Some small birds really are extremely territorial and protective. I like wing position of the kite, too and only wish the near wing were not in front of the perch.

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Mork, well done for getting both in the frame. Great timing to capture the YB on take off, and banking towards you too. All in all, its one of those images you cant wait to download and post. Well done.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Love these types of images Morkel and your timing was perfect. Sure glad you did not give up !!! Well exposed and composed . thanks for sharing.

[Doug Brown]

Great action captured Morkel! I've got a vertical photo of 2 Peregrine Falcons that I've yet to post because 800 pixels doesn't show the detail in the image. What about posting a couple of crops after you post the larger image?

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks so much for the kind comments Doug, Judy, Stu & Axel.

here is a closeup of the Kite...

[Morkel Erasmus]

...and the drongo (obviously IQ suffered here due to the large crop)

[Vida van der Walt]

Wonderful behavioral image Morkel. You must have been over the moon when you got this shot. Great interaction . Love the angle of both the kite and the drongo as well.:)

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Vida!

[Callie de Wet]

Well, I already mentioned that I am green, I can just as well put that on paper, a very nice shot of these two, both birds being very unaccommodating when it comes to photographing them!

[Morkel Erasmus]

appreciate the comment, Callie!