Standing on the edge of a Kenyan lake, the hundreds of pink flamingos are enjoying a relaxing rest and a leisurely feast.
And then the atmosphere changes: the birds stiffen and then begin running across the shallow waters in a desperate bid to get airborne.
Then the reason for their distress becomes obvious, as a hungry hyena bounds onto the scene and gives chase to the fleeing pink birds.
The fearsome predator shows a surprising turn of speed, plucking one unlucky bird straight from the air as it desperately tries to take flight.
The dainty birds are fine at flying, but they need a run-up to get out of reach of the killer’s claws.
Standing on the edge of a Kenyan lake, the hundreds of pink flamingos are enjoying a relaxing rest and a leisurely feast.
And then the atmosphere changes: the birds stiffen and then begin running across the shallow waters in a desperate bid to get airborne.
Then the reason for their distress becomes obvious, as a hungry hyena bounds onto the scene and gives chase to the fleeing pink birds.
The fearsome predator shows a surprising turn of speed, plucking one unlucky bird straight from the air as it desperately tries to take flight.
The dainty birds are fine at flying, but they need a run-up to get out of reach of the killer’s claws.
‘The fitter birds are the ones which get away and get in the air quickly, it is the weaker ones which are in danger like the bird that was caught.’
Mr Shah added: ‘It is amazing to capture a sequence like this on camera and even more so because you really get the feel of the panic in the flock because of the closeness of the lens.
‘This particular group that was attacked had a few hundred individuals.’
Lake Nakuru is one of the Rift Valley soda lakes. It lies to the south of Nakuru, in central Kenya and is protected by a small Lake Nakuru National Park. Its name means ‘Dust or Dusty Place’ in the native Maasai language.
The pictures were shown to Wildlife and Wetland Trust’s Nigel Jarrett, who looks after the biggest population of flamingos in the world outside of the wild in sites across the UK.
He said: ‘These pictures are stunning, I have never seen a flamingo this close before although sadly I guess a hyena must do.
‘You really do get the impression of panic in the flock as the hyena starts hunting.
‘It takes these birds a little while to get airborne because they need a bit of a run up, sadly for one flamingo it didn’t run fast enough.
‘These are lesser flamingos which are about a metre tall, but the hyena looks huge compared to the birds, it must have been like a knife slicing through butter when it attacked the flock.’
The images are part of a series published in the book ‘The Great Rift Valley of East Africa’.