Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus)

Braulio Rivas Tapia

Asombroso! Podrías ponerlo en la misión: Global Flight!

Noe and Pili

Thank you chebeague! I'm glad you like it :)

chebeague2

nice shot!

Noe and Pili

Thanks again, Sachin.

Sachin Zaveri

Excellent work,

Noe and Pili

Ha ha ha, we are agree! Monfragüe is a great place to see lots of birds nesting and birds of prey like the Spanish Imperial Eagle. We recommend it to everybody. Thanks for your comment and the link

AlvaroMartinZarzuela

ohhhh Monfragüe, my great love, jajaja. You can help to Monfragüe and you can to contribute to the declaration as World Heritage by UNESCO. You can watch this page http://www.paisajemediterraneo.es/. Sorry by my english.

Noe and Pili

Thanks Raquel! Monfrague National Park is a very nice place, we want to come back there as soon as possible :)

RaquelAntunes

Great picture! I visited this park once, beautiful ... I have to go back there!

Noe and Pili

Thanks Arlanda! Extremadura is the best place to go in Spain if you like birds of prey :)

arlanda

beautiful picture, Very dramatic light! Enhorabuena.

Dangermouse

I would recommend it, it's a beautiful area, though I'm a little biased because I live here! :)

Malcolm Wilton-Jones

We usually drive straight past on the way to Lagos to see our eldest daughter, also on Noah, maybe should stop there a few days.

Dangermouse

Pego do Inferno is actually a small place, but the area around it for miles in all directions is where the wildlife actually is. The only Parque Natural that we have near here (south of Portugal) is the Parque Natural da Rio Formosa, which extends along the coast from the Spanish border to Faro, south of the motorway. There is also the Protected area of the Southwest and Vicentina coast, which runs from Sines to Sagres down the west coast of Portugal. But to see big birds especially, you only need to head inland a short distance. This year I have only seen a few booted eagles and perhaps one Spanish Imperial. Not many at all, and no photos.

Malcolm Wilton-Jones

We will have to visit Pego do Inferno and Donana next time we are in the area. We spent a day last year near Donana trying to get information on visiting the park but none of the information offices we visited could help! Seen lots of Griffons this year but only a couple of Blacks and Egyptains and no decent photos. Might have flown with a Golden Eagle last week, only got a few seconds look quite close and no photo. It appeared just below me in a thermal but on the next turn had vanished!

Noe and Pili

Thank you Nicole :)

NicoleB

Gorgeous photos!

Dangermouse

I did not know that Spanish Imperials were endangered - I have seen quite a few, including a pair with young hunting, so I now feel very honoured! Thank you for the recommendations, I will certainly look at going there. As for natural parks here in Portugal in the south, I am not certain. I know there are areas abundant in wildlife, but special designated areas...I don't know. Having such a strong interest in wildlife is new to me, so I will look around and see if I can find any parks, and then will let you know. But I know that the area around Pego do Inferno, which is near Tavira, is excellent for bird spotting, and that is where I see the eagles.

Noe and Pili

Spanish Imperial eagles are very endangered and are very difficult to see. I am happy that we can see them in the south of the Iberian peninsula. In contrast, Griffon vultures are common in the south of Spain and in the Tajo river natural park in Portugal and Spain. Can you recommend us natural parks in the south of Portugal? If you want to see griffon vultures there are a big colony between Cadiz and Malaga, It is not too far from Faro, and if you want, you can visit Doñana National Park that is closer and It is possible to see more than 100 different species of birds

Dangermouse

No, I have never seen any vultures here. Spanish Imperial and Booted eagles, and Buzzards, yes, but no vultures unfortunately.

Noe and Pili

Muito obrigado Dangermouse :) Do you often see Griffon Vultures in the south of Portugal?

Dangermouse

Amazing! Absolutely stunning picture. Great spotting!

Noe and Pili

Thank you Alfonso and welcome to Project Noah!

Alfonso Diaz

Really awesome pic!

Noe and Pili

Thanks everyone for your comments and for favorite this pic!

Wild Things

Lovely Pic.

Ilya Bezdelev

Awesome shot!

Noe and Pili

Thank you Salvi and welcome to Project Noah!

Salvi

Good shot!!!

Noe and Pili

Thank you Sergio! You have also very good pictures from Spain, like the one of the Mantis religiosa

Sergio CM

An extraordinary picture!!!

Noe and Pili

Thank you for your comments Steffi and Laura, if you like birds I have a photo of a very strange fact, a Spanish Imperial eagle fighting against a black vulture: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/6317152 It is not a good pic but it was very difficult to take, and I have a compact camera canon powershot 210 SX, not a reflex one

LauraLee

Great Shot!

Steffi

Magnificent photos!!

Malcolm Wilton-Jones

I have seen Short-toed Eagle there but not the others, that I know of, but I'll keep looking. Yes, I get very close to the birds at times, because its a glider and able to fly at a similar speed. I often follow the large birds to find thermals. I have twice met vultures head-on just a few feet away - in both instances they have avoided me! In thermals they will sometimes sit right under the wing but it is not easy to take a photograph and fly at the same time.

Noe and Pili

And also you can find Spanish Imperial Eagle, Short-Toed Eagle, Peregrin Falcon, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Black Stork, and other interesting birds. Flying over Somosierra must be awesome! Have you ever seen some bird flying close to your airplane?

Malcolm Wilton-Jones

That park is at the south-western end of the same mountain range which I fly over in Segovia province and I can confirm that the whole area is good for birds of prey. There are lots of Griffon Vultures, and just north of Somosierra there is a large colony of Egyptian Vultures at Maderuelo. We also see Black Vultures, Booted Eagles, Red and Black Kites, White Storks and several others which I haven't identified as yet.

Noe and Pili

Thank you for your comments, I recommend everybody to go to Monfrague National park, Spain, to see birds of prey. I have seen the photo in the original size and there are only 2 vultures. The colony of vultures of this area is very numerous, I'm going to upload a photo with a high number of the them flying in the same place of this photo

ChristieHeltonWillingham

Very nice photo! Congrats!

Barbara Schroeter

that's such a great picture ... my favorite for today :-)

peter

Congrats Noe! Your Griffon Vulture is Spotting of the Day: "The collective name for a group of Griffon Vultures is called a wake, committee, or venue." http://facebook.com/projectnoah/posts/126245917454785 http://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/74304189177663489

Carolina

I only see two! There is something that looks like a head, but I think is kinda big to be one of them. Maybe I'm looking at something else... Haha

Malcolm Wilton-Jones

I think you have three vultures in this picture, not just the one flying and the one standing on the rocks beside it but also looks like it might be one standing on the rocks near the top. When I fly near Somosierra I often see these vultures but I,m usually too busy flying to try to photograph them! No need to take avoiding action as they are much better at that!

Aman

This is surreal.. amazing shot

SheaEckert

AMAZING!! This needs a spotting of the day... ;)

wildleopardheart

Congrats on this amazing shot. The atmosphere surrounding the bird, the rocks, the angle. Wonderful!

Ashish

Vultures are very powerful birds..!!

LarsKorb

This is just...so awesome that it's close to be kitschy ...excellent.

ClaudiaRamirez

What a Picture !!! congratulations, awesome !