Seeing a harpy eagle, a near mythical raptor, has been on my bucket list for years. So, when I’m invited to Panama by the Canopy Family canopytower.com/canopy-camp, I seize the chance, and get so much more than I hoped for.
TRAVEL LIKE ME
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If you'd like to follow in my footsteps and see a magnificent harpy eagle for yourself, take a look at my travel page - where you can find my itinerary and book a similar trip to Panama: www.robertefuller.com/travel/
Or, follow this playlist and journey with me through Panama to see more extraordinary animal sightings: • Panama 🌎🇵🇦 | Wild Trav... And watch more of my travel adventures here: • Wild Travel 🌍🏞️ | Robe...
ABOUT THIS FILM
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Legendary harpy eagle
The harpy eagle is the national bird of Panama. Named after the harpies of Greek mythology, gruesome women with the bodies of birds, this gigantic eagle is the most powerful raptor on earth and its rear talons can measure 5 inches - bigger than a grizzly bears claws!
My guide, Eliecer takes me to a secret location, confident we’ll get some good sightings. But it’s gonna be quite a journey! From the camp, we travel 40 minutes by car and take a 15 minute canoe trip down the Chucunaque River. Then we set off through the pastures on horseback and walk through dense jungle to a lookout point.
Cupio trees
Eliecer, eventually pointed to a small gap in the tree canopy. And there it was. A huge nest, in the fork of a cuipo tree. Cuipo trees are the largest trees of this region and measure up to 200ft high, towering over the top of the rest of the canopy. Everything in this forest seemed super-sized, so when I spotted a female harpy eagle sitting inside the nest, it felt surreal.
The harpy eagle is so impressive it is revered across Central and South America. As I trained my lens on it, it gave a long whistle that rang out across the forest. Eliecer said the sound meant she was hungry and was calling for the male to bring food.
Glimpsing the chick
A small white head of a chick then appeared over the rim of the nest. The female leaned over it, and for a moment looked fiercely protective. Mesmerised, we watched her and her chick for 6 hours, ignoring the humidity. Throughout, the female repeatedly called for food. Then she took flight, her huge 2-metre wings at full spread as she flew into the forest.
She didn’t go far. As she tussled with something in a nearby tree, I believed she was hunting, but then she returned with a branch. It seems she was just refreshing the nest with some greenery.
Male harpy eagle arrives
Still hungry, she kept searching the nest for food in vain. Males don’t bring food every day, so I was about to give up hope on seeing her mate until we heard him at last returning the her calls. All of a sudden, the male flew into the nest carrying prey. It was hard to see what he brought, but we watched the female take it and feed it to the chick.
We watched the male look around the nest before flying to the branch above. He was there long enough for me to get some amazing footage and then he took flight, melting back into the forest.
ABOUT ME
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I am a British wildlife artist and filmmaker on a mission to share my love for wildlife with the world. As well as creating detailed animal film and art portraits, I promote wildlife tours around the world and do all I can to help conserve and protect wildlife here at my home in Yorkshire. I hope that by putting nature in the frame I can foster a deep love for wildlife amongst my followers.
You can support my work by donating here: www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s... or joining one of my supporter communities: www.robertefuller.com/support...
Of course, you may like to purchase my artwork which you can find on my website: www.robertefuller.com. Many of my paintings are portraits of the wonderful characters you watch here!
You can also follow me on these platforms:
Website: www.robertefuller.com
Facebook: / robertefullerart
Twitter: / robertefuller
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CHAPTERS
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00:00 A Quest To Film The Rare Harpy Eagle
00:20 Canopy Camp, Panama
02:42 A Harpy Eagle Nest
03:13 Harpy Eagle Chick
04:31 Female Stretches Her Wings
05:07 Nest Maintenance
05:38 Female Calls For Her Mate
06:11 Chick Tries Calling Too!
06:24 Male Visits Nest
07:00 Harpy Eagle Diet
08:00 An Incredible Quest
08:21 Follow In My Footsteps…
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© Robert E Fuller
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