There were Fish Eagles in the garden. Almost all the time. There could be more than a dozen, but sometimes two or three. Far above us in the leafy crown of the tall tree.
We lived in a crumbling house once occupied by the port captain of the river Port of Namasagali. The port was built as a staging post for the never completed Cape to Cairo railway. It has long since become unusable as a port since the water levels of the Nile fell. It did however provide a verdant sweaty backdrop for Humphrey Bogart and Kathreen Hepburn in the film ‘African Queen’.
The big tree in the garden lies between the house and a bank above the ruined railway track and jetty. The the water level is now two or three metres below the jetty. But the river is around three quarters of a mile wide. Plenty of room to film the lake scenes of ‘African Queen’, and plenty of room for the Eagles to go fishing for tilapia. I fancy I can see the big tree in a couple of scenes in the film as the boat comes towards the port.
The eagles position towards the top of the tree was undisputed. Egrets and the occasional heron were permitted to settle. Cormorants could settle on smaller trees nearby.
A troop of vervet monkeys sometimes occupied the middle levels of the tree. It is a safe place for launching raids to steal fruit from our garden and other gardens nearby. It was also a place for the boss monkey to taunt our neighbors Alsation dog.
If Boofie ever saw the monkeys on the ground he would dash at them barking and growling. The boss monkey always positioned himself between the troop and Boofie while the troop fled for the tree. Once in the troop was safe in the middle levels of the tree the boss got to the lower levels and taunted Boofie. He remained just out of reach barking at Boofie. Boofie got angry. The monkey chattered louder and came closer, but stayed just out of reach just above his head.
The eagles simply ignored the uproar beneath them.
One day Boofie and the boss monkey had a real fight. I don’t know whether Boofie caught the boss on the ground or the boss came too close while cursing him. There was a tremendous noise of yapping and snarling from Boofie, the boss monkey and the whole troop cussing loudly - even the infants. The whole troop came down to the lower branches.
After a few minutes the writhing bundle separated leaving a ring of brown and grey fur on the ground. The boss ran off to the tree, albeit with a bit of a limp. Boofie went off home looking sorry for himself.
Honours were even. You could see the bloody wound on the boss for the next few days and he was the subject of extensive grooming by his troop. Boofie had a couple of stitches in his flank. Nothing could be done about the bit missing from his ear.
There is no reason to think the eagles noticed.