ML249175291

Age and sex

Immature Unknown sex - 1

Behaviors

Flying; Molting

Media notes

Second calendar year/SPB (second prebasic moult)

Observation details

Already on view at dawn when we arrived, the Lammergeier was perched on the cliff adjacent to what looked like an old Raven nest. Here we enjoyed decent scope views at 200m range. Over the next four hours, the bird did an excessive amount of preening, especially its primaries (perhaps to induce moult?), dumped four times and turned around once each leading us to think it might take flight soon which it didn't. The rest of the time the vulture spent sleeping, usually in a really weird way with its head just lying limp on its mantle but sometimes tucked slightly under a wing. As the sun rose and light improved I could begin to make out a bit more colour and contrast between different ages of feather and the red skin around the eye which had a grey-white iris and black pupil. By this point, I was pretty exhausted so took an hours nap. Then about half an hour after waking up the Lammergeier began another 'I'm going to fly charade' before turning around and actually taking off! To everyones disappointment this was only to plop down onto a boulder in the bottom of the clough. A quick reposition in the hill and now we could at least enjoy slightly closer views and the bird actually doing something as it sat alert and walking on this boulder. After about five minutes it took flight again...straight towards us! It was flying lower than we were sat and after five seconds it disappeared below us so we quickly ran forward and watched as the vulture soared past below us before turning and rising now at eye-level! Still coming straight towards us, the Lammergeier gave phenomenal views no more than 20m overhead as it checked out the crowd for weaklings, before making another pass and beginning to rise, now directly into the sun. Once it had reached altitude it circled round again giving spectacular views before heading west over the top of the hill at speed but without a single wingbeat. Without a hope of catching up, with it moving at such a pace, we revelled over the spectacle we just witnessed and began to wander back to the car very happy! Whilst flying it was clear to see the bird was undergoing a prebasic moult. Close inspection of photos shows that, on each wing, only P1 has been moulted and replaced with the new feather still growing-in. All other primaries and secondaries are retained juvenile feathers. Tail clearly in heavy moult. Surprised to see so many rectrices missing at once. Also a mix of new and old wing coverts and scapulars, mostly old. So vulture must be a second calendar year undergoing a second prebasic moult (age: SPB by WRP system). This bird was seen in northern France on 12th–14th May, the Channel Islands on 20th–21st May, then northern France again on 26th May, the Netherlands from 30th May to 13th June and Belgium on 18th–19th June. Up to this date it appears to have had a complete tail. It then flew over Balsall Common in the West Midlands on 26th June and was relocated in the Peak District on 30th June. This individual is believed to be a wild-born bird emanating from the reintroduced population in the Alps.

Technical information

Model

E-M1X

Lens

M.300mm F4.0 + MC-14

ISO

500

Focal length

420 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/3200 sec

Dimensions

4673 pixels x 2921 pixels

Original file size

7.68 MB