One of our most beautiful and agile
eagles has arrived: the Short-toed Eagle, or Culebrera. It's such a
pleasure to see them coming to a virtual standstill in the air whilst
they scan the ground for snakes. This one landed on a pylon about a
hundred yards away while I was looking for a Cetti's warbler in the
undergrowth. I turned around and there it was: perfectly calm and
aware that I was watching it. Trying not to tremble, I held my
camera over the telescope, and managed these shots. I always feel
that I've been given a wonderful gift after these encounters.
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| Short-toed Eagle - Águila Culebrera
Black Kites also arrived in force this
month: we saw five of them flying one after the other, coming over
the hill from the south. Now they're as abundant as the Red Kite: go
for a walk and you're bound to see one or the other.
Black Kite
Earlier in the month we were in the
Arribes Natural Park in western Salamanca. We had the privilege of
watching a pair of Bonelli's Eagle doing some amazing dive-bombs, and
following one another before swooping down the valley towards their
nest. There are only two known nesting pairs in the Arribes so we're
hoping that this year they'll be successful.
We saw the recently arrived Egyptian
Vultures alongside a colony of breeding Griffon Vultures.
And we were wowed by a resident
Peregrine Falcon performing a fantastic swooping flight as if to show
off it's incredible flying skills.
We also came across some rather
glamorous caterpillars, so I'm looking forward to finding out what
they'll be when they grow up.
 
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