If you are a Heron that has to fish to survive there is the hard way and an easy way getting the catch of the day….

The hard way is wading out into crocodile infested water and testing your reflexes against skittish tilapia that scatter at the slightest disturbance of the water. It’s hard because changing light makes spotting your prey difficult and the fish often have a faster reaction to your strike. To catch your fish you need patience and stand perfectly still for long periods waiting for a fish to come within striking distance. If you are a young heron you have a lot of learning to do and your strike rate is low. But as you grow older and more experienced you eventually become more proficient. But its always hard and you could always eat more than you catch.

THE EASY WAY THAT’S NOT SO EASY…

Standing in the water you observe the wise old herons flying out into the middle of the water and landing on a wallowing hippo. At first it does not make sense and you wonder what’s that all about. Then you see the old bird strike and come up with a days worth of fish firmly pierced. To top it off nearly every strike is successful and the fish are so much bigger than the skittish tiddlers you are trying to catch. So you decide to fly over and take a look….

That’s when things start to get ugly. Just as you approach feet forward, wings back air brakes deployed the damned hippo sinks down below the surface and you have to abort the landing. But as you fly around you see the back of another hippo and you glide in and execute what you think is a perfect gentle landing. But you misjudged, it was not the hippos back it was its head, and it does not want you on its head. The snort and spray from its nostrils are a message you don’t forget, so you quickly get the wings going and gain airspeed beefier you are left wallowing in the water with a grumpy old giant next to you.

Eventually to manage to figure out the difference between a hippos head and its back and perfect the art of landing. Folding your wings to quickly observe the silver flash of fish just below the surface as they feed on disturbed sediment and parasites attached to the hippos coarse hide. Now you now why the old herons don’t waste their time fishing the banks of the river when pods of hippo are wallowing out mid stream.

DAMN THE PECKING ORDER

Unfortunately life in the bush is never simple. Just as you figure out the secret one of the old birds swoops in, legs extended and aimed directly at you. You are about to be cruelly pushed into the water and have two choices; fight or flight. You choose flight.

What you have just learned is that in Africa there is a pecking order for everything and when it comes to prime hippo fishing spots you are not at the top of it!

WHY HERONS LOVE HIPPOS 

The reason prime hippo real estate in the middle of the river is so attractive to the herons is that the hippos stir up the mud and sand of the riverbed or waterhole and this attracts the fish. The rough hides of the hippo is also home to parasites on which the fish feed. The moment a fish swims too close to the surface they become easy prey for the waiting heron. The advantage for the hippo is the fish clear its hide of parasites; a great example of the symbiotic relationship that exists between different species of animals and birds.

HIPPOS

Plan to photograph hippo as part of any safari trip. These are great animals that are wonderful to observe and photograph. No safari is complete without them.

They can be viewed and photographed all year round but in summer when water is at a premium hippos gather in clusters known as herds or pods that invariably result in tension between big bulls, especially in the late afternoon.This is the best time to capture those iconic open mouth shots.

Like everything patience is the key to success. Allow yourself two to three hours in the late afternoon over a couple of days. Observe the animals and where the big bulls are. When they start to get antsy and start jostling for space which on hot afternoons they invariably always do, get ready because you only get a few seconds to get your shot when they start going at each other.

Inbetween photograph the herons and the other myriad of birds that inhabit Africas waterholes.

WHAT YOU NEED TO PHOTOGRAPH HIPPOS:

• Fully charged batteries

• Lots of memory

• A medium to large prime or zoom lens (a 2x adaptor is also useful) because the hippos are usually in the deepest water.

• A tripod, monopod (or bean bag if you are shooting from a vehicle.