Patience My A***

 This is a rather fine specimen of a Griffon Vulture, or Eurasian Griffon which is found in southern Europe and across Asia. They can grow up to 122cm tall with a wingspan up to 2.8m so quite a formidable bird. I remember watching a vulture in a zoo ripping apart a goats leg, stripping the tendons away from the bone, it was really impressive to see the power in its claws and beak.

I like the watchful pose of this bird, hunched as if ready to launch into the air and catch some thermals in search of the next meal.

It reminded me of a picture on a t-shirt I saw many many years ago that had two vultures sitting in a tree surveying the dry landscape, they were scrawny and obviously very hungry and one was saying to the other "Patience my ass, I'm going to kill something".

This one won't have to worry about its next meal as it is resident at the National Centre for Birds of Prey at Helmsley where it obviously receives excellent care.

Under Attack

So yesterday I posted some pictures of singing frogs, something I had never witnessed before. 

Today I am sharing a series of pictures captured a few days previously from the walls of the medieval city of Provins. I knew that there was a bird of prey display within the city but I was was not expecting to come quite so close to the display itself. Taking in the view of the countryside surrounding the city I was surprised as this European Vulture flew past. I wasn't really prepared for wildlife photography and but I was equipped with my 24 -105mm L series lens and the quality of the equipment really shows in these images.

Initially the vulture made a couple of solo passes but then it was quickly surrounded by a flock of pigeons and some crows that mobbed it.  After a while it took refuge in one of the ruined towers further along the wall before presumably it went to play its part in the flying display for the paying public.

European Black Vulture

Just look at this handsome creature. Vultures have a bit of a bad reputation as dirty scavengers but they actually serve a vital role in protecting the environment; by feeding off carcasses they help stop the spread of disease. 

There is so much power in this beak and jaws and that piercing gaze just goes right through you.

I watched this one feeding on what looked like a leg of mutton or goat. It ate everything, not just the muscle but the tendons and sinews, picking the bones clean.