The Electric Martial Eagle Project : Black Eagle trapping with the Black Eagle Project

I am very interested in the movements of large raptors and I am pretty sure that one day I will use the skills Meg Murgatroyd has taught me when it comes to trapping eagles. I won’t have time to trap any eagles for the Electric Martial Eagle Project which is unfortunate, because it can be very rewarding. So I decided to join Meg from the Black Eagle Project to catch some of her eagles.

In April Meg invited me to assist her and Rowen van Eeden in catching two Black Eagles in the Sandveld. This was to be part of Rowan’s training as he needs to catch and GPS tag 25 Martial Eagles in the Kruger National Park. Meg traps Black Eagles to compare their movement in the Sandveld, an area stained by potato farming, and the pristine wilderness of the Cederberg.

Luckily for us, we caught both big Black Eagle females within an hour of waiting, which any eagle biologist will tell you, is outrageously lucky.

After the successful trapping in the Sandveld, I knew we were lucky and trapping large eagles is never that easy. So I decided to join Meg for trapping in the Cederberg. Why did I go along when I knew the trapping wouldn’t be easy? Simply to see how hard it can get, so that one day when I need to trap eagles, I know what I am in for.

Meg and I really got to know each other in the cramped space of our Cederberg hides. We spent a little over a week dressed in a many layers attempting to trap two Cederberg Eagles. We wouldbehappy to just catch one, but when we realised that the pair we had been trying to trap, may be trap-shy. We moved on to trap a new pair at a new site. We waited for a couple days before realising we had put the trap too far away from the eagles’ perching site and the breeding season was upon us, so we would have to stop trapping anyway.

Catching eagles is amazing - there is nothing quite like holding that powerful predator in your hands and once you are finished tagging it, sending it off. Watching it soar above your head and going back to its routine, as if nothing had happened. The glory is short- lived and well worth the effort but man a lot of blood, sweat, tears and disappointment goes into the process of trapping an eagle.