The weather has settled once again and fortunately there are many vultures, making their way South-West and into our watching area. Early yesterday, I went into the hills to where I believed a large number of Griffon Vultures had rested for the night. You would think that an estimated 600 vultures standing on the ground would be easy to locate, given their size and the space they would occupy. Scanning the hillsides, it can take a considerable time and between locations, I watched other birds starting their day. A colourful Great Spotted Woodpecker was on display early. On a further power line was an Iberian Shrike, singing for long periods. Many birds were on the move including small Siskin flocks, 4 Bullfinches flew over, 2 Short-toed Eagles were up early and, large flocks of Woodpigeons (hundreds) must have been new arrivals. I travelled a little further and noticed a large brown patch in a field which looked suspiciously like standing Griffons. I walked a short distance to a stand of stone pines where I hoped to be inobtrusive. In doing so, I inadvertently aroused a Common Buzzard which flew away quickly. With the camera lens, the Griffons looked more obvious although distant. Processing the images revealed a Black Vulture is standing near the right hand end, with its back to us. I noticed a small number of Griffons roosting in a pine tree. I remained under the trees waiting for the flock to alight when a sudden "whoosh whoosh" over my head showed some were already lifting off and I was in fact, surrounded by several flocks. Within a couple of minutes there were hundreds of vultures in the air. The nearby wind turbines always a constant threat to low flying birds. Fortunately, on this occasion the vultures gained height rapidly. An ever-growing collection of vultures climbed high in the sky, moving off towards the coast.
Today, a large number of vultures (around 1000) are still present in the area. Comments are closed.
|
|