Click for full size image. Adult bearded vulture. Some lammergeier have been released in the Alps as part of reintroduction programmes. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo.
In mid-May, a bearded vulture was spotted in the UK. Seriously exciting! This is one of the coolest and most magnificent birds I have ever seen. I would love to see this bird in person.
A spectacular bearded vulture, believed to be the first recorded in the UK, has been spotted soaring over the Severn estuary and moorland in Devon.
If it is confirmed that the vulture, also known as the lammergeier or ossifrage, is a wild bird, it will be the first of its species to be found in Britain and the sightings have already caused ornithologists to rush to the west country hoping for a glimpse.
The lammergeier was filmed on the Welsh side of the Second Severn Crossing at the end of last week, perched on rocks then flying off toward the bridge.
It is believed the same bird was seen last weekend over Dartmoor in Devon about 100 miles away. Though already a sizeable bird, the specimen is thought to be a juvenile. Adults can boast a wingspan of almost three metres (9.8ft).
Josh Jones, news manager at BirdGuides, said the sighting was very exciting. “I think we’re going to have a lot of people wanting to take a look,” he said. “This is special bird and we could get monster crowds.”
I believe that, I’d be part of those monster crowds.
The same bird is believed to have been spotted in Belgium earlier this month. Some lammergeier have been released in the Alps as part of reintroduction programmes but those birds have dyed feathers so can be easily recognised.
There were no obviously dyed feathers – or rings – on the Severn vulture which suggests it could be a genuinely wild bird. Young lammergeier do travel large distances.
Very exciting. I’m jealous of anyone who has a chance to see this most magnificent being in person.
Via The Guardian.
I may have to arrange a trip down to Devon at some point. Cider, cheese, and vulture viewing? Oh, yes please! It won’t be for a while, but it’s definitely on my “things to do” list now.
The vulture looks like it’s wearing a v-neck shirt. Magnificient bird, though the beard looks a bit funny.
Oh wow! This would be amazing to see in real life!
Ice Swimmer
Don’t diss the beard, don’t you know it provides a natural air of authority? Beards inspire trust!
Athywren, serious jealous here!
Ice Swimmer, I’m with rq on this one, that beard is awesome!
A bad defense: I have a beard myself and it probably also looks funny from some angle, though I of course think it gives me natural authoritay. 8-{)#
I’m not saying a bearded vulture shouldn’t have a beard.
In Finnish a Old World vulture is korppikotka (raven-eagle). This one is partakorppikotka (beard-raven-eagle). A New World vulture is kondori. No vultures live here, ravens and eagles do.
If I manage to get down there at a time when ol’ bird-face is there, and I manage to get some decent pictures, I promise to share. (Unless that’ll just throw fuel on the jealousy fire, in which case I’ll just strut around, proudly proclaiming that I have pictures, but do nothing about it. :P)
Re beards: my beard gives me a way to disguise how horrendously youthful I am… I guess that gives me a little aura of authority, but mostly in the way that it makes me look slightly more like an adult than I actually do.
Ice Swimmer:
That is a spectacular word. No vultures? So your ravens and eagles do all the clean up, then. We have vultures here, 3 of them live close to us.
Athywren:
You had better!
Caine @ 8
AFAIK, in addition to eagles and ravens, magpies and crows do it, also foxes, wolves and bears. Lynxes and mustelids (wolverines excepted) not so much.
You’ve upset the mildly deranged penguin. Who has a tuxedo. No beard. I managed to not let her borrow mine.
The mildly deranged penguin is all for the cidre, the cheese, the cheese, the cidre, and the moar cheese. I doubt watching her stuff herself is all that interesting, unless she mistakes the vulture for cidre-cheese cake…
And how many rats does it take to operate that puppet?
Blf:
Oh no. Of course, no bird could eve be as cool and magnificent as the mildly deranged penguin.
Oh, great. Now you set her off. She’s strutting around — on the ceiling(she doesn’t do gravity) — quaffing grog(the grog, however, does do gravity, so she’s mostly missing her beak — there’s a steady drizzle of grog (well, it is about time for the annual beard cleaning)), and trying to sing something. I can’t tell what, since she sounds like she’s hit all the notes at once. With a unbalanced jackhammer.
It was the tuxedo. Couldn’t help myself.
Ice Swimmer:
That’s interesting. Of course, there are a lot of other scavengers here as well, it’s not as though vultures don’t have to work for their meals. There are a lot of meals though, given the driving habits here. There are a lot of raptors here, along with a good amount of four-leggeds who aren’t above a good scavenge.
Is there a particular reason there are no vultures in Finland? Is this a Nordic-wide thing, climate based maybe? I had thought vultures were to be found pretty much everywhere. Goes to show just how much I don’t know.
I’ve been searching for a clew / confirmation — and haven’t found anything yet — but did find this tidbit, which suggests a possible reason:
Finland, or at least parts of, are not “open country”. It’s rather famous for its forests.
Well, there is Vulture Culture — Black Metal From Northern Finland. Feathers, caresses, and rats-in-puppets do not, however, appear to be part their thing.
Blf:
Ohhhhhhhh, yep, that would answer. Here in ND, there isn’t much to impede a raptor’s view. There are heavily treed areas, but nothing like the density of true forest.
First it cooks its meal with its red laser eyes.
Lofty:
Those are such fabulous eyes!
Caine @ 17
As far as I can tell, no vultures are native to Nordic countries. I’ve thought vultures mostly live in tropical and subtropical areas. It seems this is closer to truth in in Eurasia than in North America.
The usual reason for some species not existing here is: “It’s too cold in the winter, the summer is too short and it’s only 10 000 years from the last ice age.” blf’s explanation makes sense.
blf @ 15
Yes, with 70 % forests, there aren’t many large open areas (some large fens, fields and areas above tree line on the fells in Lapland), rather the open lands are just holes in the forest carpeting. Also, I guess because of the abundance of lakes, gulls are common even inland, they can eat carrion and can be very aggressive, so there may not be much of a niche for vultures.
I’ve always associated vultures with warm climates, too. I don’t think we had any in eastern Ontario, growing up, but I could very well be wrong. There’s certainly no native vultures here, and the explanation that they’re sight scavengers would make sense. There are larger prey birds along the seashore (ospreys and eagles), but no native vultures. If ever observed, it would make headlines.
rq@21, Ye Pffft! of all Knowledge suggests there could Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) in that area of Canada(mostly(?) during the summer). That ex-dinosaur is a New World Vulture (not to be confused with an Old World Vulture); it hunts by both sight and smell.
Ice Swimmer@20, “I’ve thought vultures mostly live in tropical and subtropical areas. It seems this is closer to truth in in Eurasia than in North America”: The vultures in Africa and Eurasia are Old Word Vultures, and those in the Americas are New World Vultures. They are not related; it is a case of convergent evolution. I presume this explains various differences, such as the sight-only (Old World) or sight-and-smell (New World) hunting. Also, the Condors (New World) can fly very high and hunt in the mountains (e.g., Andes), and so are, perhaps, a bit more cold-tolerant than any(?) other vultures.