International Vulture Day 4 September 2021

Yes I am going back a bit! I never wrote about vulture day in 2020 as it was soooo cold that morning I didn't even take any photos - this time I was better prepared with a warmer jacket and gloves but luckily it was much warmer anyway, so I was able to take photos galore! There is a vulture watching spot at the base of the mini mountain of Bugarach, the highest peak in the Corbières at 1,230m. In the past the LPO (French equivalent of RSPB) used to feed the vultures more often and you could find out when they were planning to do it, so could go along, but now for some reason or other they only do this once a year on International Vulture Day. Nonetheless, there are often vultures hanging around in this area, and so you can see them at other times. There are information boards telling you about all the different species of vulture that you may be lucky to see, although by far the most common is the Griffon Vulture. I have seen two other species of vulture elsewhere in France and in Spain, but only the Griffon on these days at Bugarach. It's not disappointing though as any vulture is worth watching, in my opinion!. The only sad thing about this place is that the feeding platform is way across a valley so is rather distant for photos - a good thing they are big birds!

First of all, when we arrived we were lucky to see these Chamois perched up on the ridge - we've never seen them before so that was a real bonus. I think for this and the vulture shots, you would be better to click on the photos and view them full size.

It seems that maybe a few vultures who are sitting around or flying around notice what is going on (i.e. a pickup truck with a load of offal) and in no time at all, others start appearing and swoop around the skies until the time when the meat is put down, then whoosh! Seeing them come into land and then start squabbling over the meat is quite a sight, all the while there are crows trying to get in there to get a morsel or two as well!

I think most of the food had gone by this time as they are looking up, maybe hoping for seconds? 😀

Griffons are large vultures, with a wingspan of 2.3–2.8 m (7.5–9.2 ft) (according to Wikipedia). And here is what they really look like in this beautiful photograph by Pierre Dalous taken from the Wikipedia page for Griffon Vultures. How I wish I could get a shot like this!



Once the birds had finished their meal they took to the skies and we continued to watch them for a while, as it is rare to see so many in the skies all at once, except for at feeding time!

Philippa (on the right) who is the owner/leader of Birding Languedoc and some of our group watching the vultures.

The day was not over as we went to a pretty picnic lake on the outskirts of the village of Bugarach to eat our picnic lunch.

Not my best dragonfly shot and I don't want to spend ages trying to ID it from just one image, so let's just say it's a Darter of some sort, and probably female.

This however is definitely my best shot of a Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta)! By this time we had returned to the village of Bugarach and gone for a walk into the fields up above it.

A Grayling of some sort - as there are many species of Grayling on the European mainland I can't ID it from this photo.

A view of the Pic de Bugarach - now from where we live it looks like a nicely mounded peak, but from certain angles it has a fairly jagged flattish top.

This is the first Jersey Tiger Moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria) that I have seen down here - I saw lots of them in Brittany. The small butterfly behind is a Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus).

Another daytime flying moth, this time it's one of the Burnet moths, possibly a Five-Spot but the markings are all merged together, so I'm not sure.

We were bird watching as well of course, but apart from a few Wheatears perching on fence posts and telegraph wires, I can't remember what else we saw! Below Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe).

Another view of the Pic de Bugarach walking back towards the village.

We then moved on to the Gorge de Galamus to see if there were any migratory birds passing through. We didn't see any, but we were lucky enough to see both a Blue Rock Thrush and a Common Rock Thrush, both in the same place! They were very distant so no photos, but a great find all the same.

I've taken photos of this gorge and the Hermitage of St Antoine before, but the last time I had sun shining through the middle of the shot. This image shows the hermitage much better, and in the next photo which is taken from the main car park, if you view it full size you will see the hermitage in the middle of the image. In this image, you can just see the steps leading up to the chapel built into the cave behind the left and middle roofs.

* We've been having horrible weather, really high winds making the already not very warm weather feel icy, whilst northern France and even the UK bask in sunshine with temps of around 21C and 19C respectively. I'm desperate to get out for a walk as all the plum and now cherry blossoms are out and lots of wildflowers! Keith is braver than me and goes out once a week for a walk no matter what, unless it is raining. I'd rather stay indoors! 😀 However Monday is our first trip out with Birding Languedoc this season, so I hope it will be less windy. Orchid season has started and I counted 21 unidentifiable Ophrys genus orchids in the front garden!

* I wrote that several days ago, so yesterday was the day we went out with our birding group! The weather was so much better and between us we have loads of photos from a very successful birding (and wildflower) day, so that will be the next post. 😀