It was one of those days when, for reasons we cannot work out, all the raptors regardless of species were flying remarkably low. To us, the weather conditions in terms of temperature and wind were barely different from the previous days. I described in my last blog the difficulty in obtaining reasonable images of birds requiring better identification. How we wished every day was like this, beginning for me with this classic juvenile Bonelli's Eagle Late morning saw yet another Eleonora's Falcon added to our records. Not the moulting bird from two days ago, this one was in great condition. The bulging crop shows the falcon has fed well very recently. Regarding age, the cheeks and throat are quite white and the breast pale too. The wing patterns look more adult than juvenile and there is no terminal or sub-terminal band on the tail. We were extremely lucky in that the falcon perched in a tree, giving excellent scope views for the recorders and visitors alike. The remainder of the day was spent enjoying stunning views of the more regular eagles, beginning with 3 Short-toed Eagles. Around twenty Booted Eagles remained in the area all day. Throughout the day, we noticed flocks of Stock Doves flying in reasonable numbers (20-30). A single Black Stork came in and settled in a field late afternoon. We concluded our visit by watching a lone juvenile Egyptian Vulture make its second appearance over the watchpoint.
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