Lammergeier

After the Griffon Vultures had finished then the Lammergeiers moved in to clean up the bones.  This rare and beautiful vulture has the unique habit of eating bones whole and bones that are too big to swallow are dropped from a height on to rocks to smash them up.  Unlike the Griffons they are rather timid and wouldn't come down to feed until we had retreated some distance back to the hide.  At this feeding station a pair came in circling the area for a long time but the harsh light and heat haze made digiscoping them a challenge.

Griffon Vultures up close 3

At least 200 Griffon Vultures scramble for the meat clambering on top of each other demolishing almost everything within minutes.

Griffon Vultures up close 2

Digiscoped head shots of the vultures showing that each individual had it's own distinctive features and were readily identifiable from each other.

Griffon Vultures up close

What an amazing experience.  We were so close we could smell them, and they were a bit wiffy.  The sheer numbers and the frenzy when the meat was put out was breathtaking.

The feeding station was located high up on a mountain in Northern Spain.  To get the following photos we had to be quick as it was all over in minutes as the vultures demolished a huge amount of meat in no time at all.

First a little history about how the feeding stations materialized.  When Mad Cow disease broke out in the UK the Spanish authorities were worried about it spreading into Spain so a law was passed that farmers had to remove any dead livestock on their land.  These dead animals were a vital food source for the vultures so the vulture numbers began to decline.  This resulted in the creation of these feeding stations and the vulture numbers are now increasing again.

Wallcreepers, Cranes & Vultures in Northern Spain

Have just returned from a fantastic few days in the Pyrenees of Northern Spain with some quality birds, stunning scenery and good food and wine.

The idea was to spend a few days in the foothills of the Pyrenees in search of some of the high mountain birds which move to lower elevations in the winter to avoid the harsh weather such as Wallcreepers mixed in with a little walking in the company of Wayne's sister and brother in law.  We felt that we were taking a little risk in that we were early in the season so that the birds may still be high up in the mountains and there was a little uncertainty in what the weather would be like but thought if all fails that we would have good food and wine in good company.

Things couldn't have worked out much better with most of the target birds seen well, along with great weather reaching 25 degrees on some days, stunning scenery and walks with nice autumn/early winter colours and very few people about.

Below is a little taster of things to come.

 Part of a flock of 2000 Common Cranes

 Up close and personal with a Griffon Vulture

 Vultures at feeding station

 Ordesa National Park

 Stunning but a little hair raising road through a very narrow gorge in Ordesa National Park

 Riglos

One of the four Wallcreepers seen.