I must apologise and note that an error slipped through the nets in last night’s SARBN report. The bird that was labeled as a Wahlberg’s Eagle from Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens has certainly caused a lot of debate and I can see why. I’ll admit that I prepared the report in a bit of a rush and didn’t spend too much time scrutinizing the photos in detail (poor excuses, I know…!), but thanks to a number of people who have made contact with me today, I have now been made aware of this issue.
There is every possibility that the bird in the photo is, in fact, a Brown Snake Eagle, rather than a Wahlberg’s Eagle. It’s a poor photo of the bird from behind, but there is certainly evidence there to strongly suggest that it is a Brown Snake Eagle. I should have picked up on that and held it back, so I’m sorry for sending out erroneous information. These things happen – I try to maintain a rigid checking of facts and photos, but in the barrage of emails that I receive daily, occasionally, some of these errors do slip through.
Thanks again to all of those people who took the time out to contact me about this – it is appreciated!
Kind regards
Trevor