The crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela) is a medium-sized raptor that is found in forested habitats across tropical Asia. This eagle is medium-large sized stocky bird dark brown in colour, with rounded wings and a short tail. Its short black and white fan-shaped nuchal crest gives it a thick-necked appearance.
On the morning of 06th Nov, 2014, the chill of winter season has not yet even started and the mornings were crispy and pleasant. We were at RTR and enjoying a beautiful morning and eventful safari. We had just spotted a Leopard and managed to get some passable clicks of it! And Me, Nischal and Ajit Singh were returning back towards Sultanpur chawki in hope of having a glimpse of T-39 aka Noor Tigress also known as Princess of Sultanpur. As we proceeded, we saw a Crested serpent eagle sitting on a tree with branch extending almost on the top of the track where we were travelling and this bird was majestically perched on it, facing us. The morning light was trying to filter in from our right on the bird and it looked beautiful and poised. I asked our driver to slowly stop the vehicle. I half expected it to fly away or turn to other side as soon as we stopped, but it just sat there undisturbed.
The crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela) is a medium-sized raptor that is found in forested habitats across tropical Asia. This eagle is medium-large sized stocky bird dark brown in colour, with rounded wings and a short tail. Its short black and white fan-shaped nuchal crest gives it a thick-necked appearance. The bare facial skin and feet are yellow. The underside is spotted with white and yellowish-brown. When perched the wing tips do not reach until the tail tip. In soaring flight, the broad and paddle-shaped wings are held in a shallow V. The tail and underside of the flight feathers are black with broad white bars.
Clicked with Nikon D610 and Nikon AF-S Nikkor 200-400 mm f/4 G ED VR-II at 400mm f/4, 1/250, ISO 100, Spot metering, Exposure Compensation -0.67, Hand Held.
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