It's like watching a scene from a western.Against a backdrop of craggy mountains, a coffee-coloured dust cloud rises in the arid air. Feet stamp on stony ground. Eyes lock, two faces stare unflinchingly at each other.Tension mounts.A fight is about to start.Only these aren't cowboys about to settle their differences in a duel.It's a pair of hungry vultures fighting furiously over a dead rabbit.
It's not the Wild West either. This is Mas de Buñyol, a vulture observatory, located deep in the Els Port mountains of Aragon in north-eastern Spain.Also known as the Mountains of the Three Kings, this is where the ancient kingdoms of Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia meet.
The area has abundant wildlife. Above forests of beech, oak and cork cruise eagles and vultures. Smaller birds including firecrests,treecreepers,tits and warblers – flit among the trees.Underneath them, though rarely seen, pass wildcat, boar and ibex.
Visible every morning, though, are 400 or so wild griffon vultures as they fly squadron-like into Mas de Buñyol for a slap-up rabbit breakfast. Swooping in from nearby cliff, gorge and canyon roosts, they tuck into around 200 farmed rabbit carcases provided by José Ramón Moragrega, the observatory's owner.
It's a fascinating sight. With sand-coloured wings close to 10ft across, these are enormous birds, with appetites to match. Spotting the food, the vultures stampede towards it like shoppers at the start of the January sales. Pale serpentine necks dart forwards as powerful beaks rip the rabbits into bite-size chunks. Fur, meat and bone fly. Blood drips and dust is kicked up.Squabbles break out and there is much shrieking.
Vulture breakfasts are a messy but quick business.In less than half an hour,the rabbits have all but vanished. The dust settles and the vultures doze.All is now still, bar a few stray feathers drifting across the ground like tumbleweed.
Watching so many wild vultures feeding at such close quarters in such a majestic setting is unforgettable. And something that not so long ago would not have been possible. While vultures may look robust, they are vulnerable.Just a decade ago, the vultures almost vanished.
Traditionally, farmers left carcases out for them. But in 2002, in the wake of BSE ("mad cow disease"), a new European law designed to halt the spread of the disease stopped the practice. This, combined with loss of habitat and poisoning of vultures, destroyed colonies as the birds either starved to death or left to find food elsewhere.
As vulture numbers dropped the Spanish government took action. Official vulture feedings stations were set up and, more recently,the restrictions on what farmers can leave out has been relaxed.
Mas de Buñyol is one of these sanctioned feeding stations; its programme is recognised as having stabilised Els Ports' griffon vulture population and applauded as an excellent way of promoting ecotourism in the region.
As the sun climbs in the sky and the day warms, the vultures return to the mountains. Despite their size, they ascend gracefully. Their tail features help them gain altitude quickly. As they soar majestically high above the mountains and ancient wild kingdoms below them, it's the vultures that are the true kings here. Long may they reign.
It's not the Wild West either. This is Mas de Buñyol, a vulture observatory, located deep in the Els Port mountains of Aragon in north-eastern Spain.Also known as the Mountains of the Three Kings, this is where the ancient kingdoms of Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia meet.
The area has abundant wildlife. Above forests of beech, oak and cork cruise eagles and vultures. Smaller birds including firecrests,treecreepers,tits and warblers – flit among the trees.Underneath them, though rarely seen, pass wildcat, boar and ibex.
Visible every morning, though, are 400 or so wild griffon vultures as they fly squadron-like into Mas de Buñyol for a slap-up rabbit breakfast. Swooping in from nearby cliff, gorge and canyon roosts, they tuck into around 200 farmed rabbit carcases provided by José Ramón Moragrega, the observatory's owner.
It's a fascinating sight. With sand-coloured wings close to 10ft across, these are enormous birds, with appetites to match. Spotting the food, the vultures stampede towards it like shoppers at the start of the January sales. Pale serpentine necks dart forwards as powerful beaks rip the rabbits into bite-size chunks. Fur, meat and bone fly. Blood drips and dust is kicked up.Squabbles break out and there is much shrieking.
Vulture breakfasts are a messy but quick business.In less than half an hour,the rabbits have all but vanished. The dust settles and the vultures doze.All is now still, bar a few stray feathers drifting across the ground like tumbleweed.
Watching so many wild vultures feeding at such close quarters in such a majestic setting is unforgettable. And something that not so long ago would not have been possible. While vultures may look robust, they are vulnerable.Just a decade ago, the vultures almost vanished.
Traditionally, farmers left carcases out for them. But in 2002, in the wake of BSE ("mad cow disease"), a new European law designed to halt the spread of the disease stopped the practice. This, combined with loss of habitat and poisoning of vultures, destroyed colonies as the birds either starved to death or left to find food elsewhere.
As vulture numbers dropped the Spanish government took action. Official vulture feedings stations were set up and, more recently,the restrictions on what farmers can leave out has been relaxed.
Mas de Buñyol is one of these sanctioned feeding stations; its programme is recognised as having stabilised Els Ports' griffon vulture population and applauded as an excellent way of promoting ecotourism in the region.
As the sun climbs in the sky and the day warms, the vultures return to the mountains. Despite their size, they ascend gracefully. Their tail features help them gain altitude quickly. As they soar majestically high above the mountains and ancient wild kingdoms below them, it's the vultures that are the true kings here. Long may they reign.
No comments:
Post a Comment