We were on our way to Raposeira to meet Chris and Sue when we found the vulture flocks already in the air. As I've seen on previous occasions, the lead bird was a magnificent Black Vulture. Why they take up this position may be chance, another Black Vulture was in the same flock but maybe sometimes they assume the 'top species' role. The juvenile Black Vulture presents all sorts of problems to photograph because, well it's just black, or almost!! Behind the Black Vulture came hundreds of Griffons. The sky was blue, the sun wasn't too high and the griffons showed well, enabling us to separate out any different birds - Egyptian Vultures, Black Storks etc. By the time we reached Raposeira, some of these Griffons were making their way towards us. We found them flying very high at first and sometimes splitting into smaller flocks, which makes keeping track of their movements more difficult. We expected them to pass either on the seaward side or, further inland towards the hills and in any case at a safe height. What happened next was a surprise as they suddenly lost height and approached the wind farm. Those turbines which can be shut down were stopped, but the vultures flew through the rotating turbines (100 metres tall with 50 metre rotating blades) which was a heart-stopping few minutes. Having done that, they gained height once more but failed to continue on their expected route out of the area.
There is so much to learn on the behaviour of these young Griffons. Most of the present number were on their third day here. Yesterday they had left their roost, flown all day and then returned to more or less the same place for the night. Why would they do this? We make half-hearted remarks about their ability - they don't know where to go, they follow each other like sheep. There must be more to it. They become airborne at the first opportunity, as soon as the air is warm enough. Why don't some spend another hour or two on the ground? Perhaps the possibility of predators. There is danger on the ground but in the air they are safe, that's where they belong and movement seems effortless. Was there a reason for their long stay around Sagres on this occasion? At the wind farm, we noticed the wind direction change three times in the course of the day. This afternoon, a light north-easterly saw the vast majority flying high over us and towards the distant hills. Perhaps this was the air current they were going to ride, moving at speed (into the wind) and taking them out of view in very little time at all. I have no doubt, these magnificent birds not yet adults, are far more advanced than we may give them credit for and, I think they are awesome in every way. Comments are closed.
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