This young Lammergeier or Bearded Vulture has wandered from the high mountains of Central Europe. Travelling through Belgium, it arrived in the U.K some weeks ago and has settled for now in various locations in the Derbyshire Peak District. On today's visit, the Lammergeier was at its most recent roost in the valley at Crowden, not far from Woodhead reservoir. We joined a small group of watchers observing the bird, surprisingly still at the roost mid-morning. Our timing was perfect as the vulture moved restlessly after a few minutes watching. Moments later, it launched itself into the air, showing its huge size on flat extended wings. We watched it glide from the roost, showing well in front of us. At this point, I assumed it was going out for the day but was totally wrong when, it abruptly landed above us, on the hill from where we were watching. I have read a number of Twitter comments recently, asking how close people have been to the bird when taking photographs. In this instance, the Lammergeier landed at half the distance we had been observing it initially, as walkers and birders came and went, no more than 100 yards away. The Lammergeier remained here for around ten minutes, gazing around before finally lifting off and losing some height, in my direction!! With some wonderful slow wing-clapping, the bird climbed away and performed a couple of circuits above us, before finally disappearing over the hillside. Clearly short of some tail feathers, this juvenile Lammergeier looked splendid and is known to feed well in the vicinity.
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