White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster)

This series of White-bellied Sea Eagle pictures are especially dedicated to my colleague Mr. Ben Sim.

Last week before I went on leave my colleague, Mr. Ben Sim, gave me a photographic assignment to photograph a White-bellied Sea Eagle. He said he saw some very nice White-bellied Sea Eagle pictures taken by a Club Snap photographer and he recognized the location was a lake beside Lakeside MRT.

I went to Lakeside one afternoon while on my way to a friend’s house in Boon Lay. I was disappointed because I did not have any luck in catching a glimpse of the majestic bird of prey let alone taking any picture! I continued on my journey empty handed! I gave up on the thought of capturing any White-bellied sea eagle this holiday because it is unlikely I will make another trip from Ang Mo Kio all the way to Lakeside carrying all that heavy photographic equipment.

Yesterday morning I was out photographing birds at Venus Drive after an early morning shower. By noon, it is getting too hot so I began walking home. As I was walking pass the slipped road to Lower Pierce Reserviour I caught sight of a “big bird” circling above the Reserviour. I was sure it must be a eagle judging by its wide wingspan and the way it glided through the sky. I quickly climbed over a railing and took a short cut into the Reserviour area.

As luck has it, it was a white-bellied sea eagle circling above the Reserviour looking for fish! I quickly pulled out my Canon EOS 40D an the 100-400mm lens and waited patiently in the hot sun at the water edge hoping to capture the moment the eagle dive down to make its catch! My quest was answered within 20 minutes of waiting; the eagle began zooming down to a spot in the middle of the Reserviour. I took aim and triggered my camera at full blast of 6.3 frames per second as the eagle hit the water and struggled off with it catch! The action was over in a matter of few seconds!

When I examined the shots on the little LCD on my EOS 40D I was rather disappointed. Some of the shots were blurred, due to my handshake in the spur of excitement to capture the split second actions! The images were also far too small for my liking because my lens is not long enough. Hmm, maybe it is a good excuse to invest in a new 600mmf4 lens. That is if I could fork out $12-16K!

One of the shot in the series showed that a fish has slipped through the eagle’s claws as the eagle began ascending after the catch. Initially I thought the eagle has gone empty handed but when I examined the shot on my computer I could see the eagle has another fish in its claws. This eagle has probably picked up two fishes at one go!

I stayed on for about an hour more to photograph the eagle then made my way home as my stomach was grouching for food! After my shower, only did I realised my face is red like a big “Ang Ku Kueh”! Hope Ben will like these series of WBSE pictures even though it is not taken at Lakeside and it is no where near those great shots taken by the Club Snap photographer!