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Lammergeier? Crete, Greece (1 Viewer)

I am sure it was to make us all jealous! Saw them in Crete many years back, but only as singletons so your photos make my own experience pale in comparison.

Lucky B.....
 
Wow!!!!!!!!!! :t::t::t:

I once watched a Survival Special programme about Lammergeiers and ever since then I have dreamt of seeing one. One day I will :t: It's just something I must do before I die ;)
 
Wow!!!!!!!!!! :t::t::t:

I once watched a Survival Special programme about Lammergeiers and ever since then I have dreamt of seeing one. One day I will :t: It's just something I must do before I die ;)

Hi namq

Just had a look into their species, and they are rare as could be. Super birds to see in that number.

Just shows how luck is on your side at times in life, being the right place at the right time.

o:)

Regards
Kathy
 
I was pretty sure it was Lammergeier. I just needed to be 100% sure, because of the rarity of the bird. Not too many left in whole Crete AFAIK.

BTW, it's one bird only :) I just made a mosaic of photos, like in other posts. I'm sorry I made you think it was a whole flock - and made you very envious this way ;)
 
Still jealous at this find though lol. I can now see where you put them together. Still a terrific find all the same.
 
No need to wait for Lammergeiers

Wow!!!!!!!!!! :t::t::t:

I once watched a Survival Special programme about Lammergeiers and ever since then I have dreamt of seeing one. One day I will :t: It's just something I must do before I die ;)

Well what are you waiting for Gill? You can hardly fail to see them in the right places in the Spanish Pyrenees. Get a cheap flight to Reus or Barcelona and then it's only about 4 hours drive to the Lammergeier capital of Europe.

If you want more information why not look at the sites and itineraries section of my web site
http://www.birdinginspain.com

And if you're really into Lammergeiers then there is a whole chapter dedicated to them in my new book "Flying over the Pyrenees, standing on the plains" which, incidentally, is Subbuteo Natural History Book's "book of the month!". Furthermore you can even download a free chapter at the website, just to get you into the mood.

Steve
 
Well what are you waiting for Gill? You can hardly fail to see them in the right places in the Spanish Pyrenees. Get a cheap flight to Reus or Barcelona and then it's only about 4 hours drive to the Lammergeier capital of Europe.

If you want more information why not look at the sites and itineraries section of my web site
http://www.birdinginspain.com

And if you're really into Lammergeiers then there is a whole chapter dedicated to them in my new book "Flying over the Pyrenees, standing on the plains" which, incidentally, is Subbuteo Natural History Book's "book of the month!". Furthermore you can even download a free chapter at the website, just to get you into the mood.

Steve

Bit of a shameless plug there, Steve! I'd agree though that a quick trip up into the Pyrenees should do the trick. You don't even have to drive since some buses run far enough into the mountians (e.g. from Barcelona to Benasque).

I missed the species many years back when i first went to the Pyrenees - they were at a very low ebb & our site directions were basically the words 'Gavarnie' and 'Pyrenees'. Being inexperienced & in a rush to get further south we left the mountains too early. Then we saw an imm Egyptian Vulture which, for an hour or so we ticked as Lammergeier (it WAS a long time ago!). By the time we realised our mistake we were well on the way south. Some 20 years later I went back with 'Birdwatching Breaks' (another plug as it's run by my old pal Mark Finn). As we walked up the valley in Gavarnie the bloke behind me just tapped me on the shoulder & quietly said 'Look up, John'. Drifting in from behind me and directly above my head were three Lammergeiers one behind the other. Fanatastic! I've always appreciated the fact that the fellow (whose name, disgracefully, I don't recall) didn't shout out and let me 'find' them myself. They put on a great display only marred by the fact that this happened pretty much exactly above the spot we'd camped all those years before. Very good birds. Even Mrs C - whose idea of a good bird usually involved roast spuds & veg - was impressed when we saw them years later. Listen to Steve, Gill, and go for it!
John
 
You don't even have to drive since some buses run far enough into the mountians (e.g. from Barcelona to Benasque).

You can also get very easily into prime lammer turf further west by taking the SNCF bus up the Aspe Valley and then into Spain from Oloron in France. At the beginning of the month the wife and I were camped up in the Canal Roya near Canfranc with 3 Lammers circling over the tent having done just that...happy days!.
 
Some 20 years later I went back with 'Birdwatching Breaks' John

One good plug deserves another, eh John?

Thinking about what you said about your early attempt at Lammergeier, when I was a young lad I did my first ever foreign birding trip to the Pyrenees with the UEA (back in 1983) bird club and we were lucky enough to see 11 birds even then. Funnily enough though as we were entering Spain we met a carload of more "veteran" birders (don't want to say "old men" which they seemed to me at the time, because they were probably only in their late forties, and I'm getting to know how it feels) who had drawn a complete blank.
Apparently they had made a concerted effort to see the birds and failed. Now that really put a damper on our spirits until about 2 hours later when we saw our first Lammergeier!

I see them fairly regularly now, but they're still a treat - the Lammergeiers I mean.

http://www.birdinginspain.com
 
On my first driving holiday around Spain ('84), I found a Lammergeier quite by chance, near Huesca - it was in a grassy meadow, on the ground and quite some distance from any mountain/cliff/rocky area. Highly inappropriate!
 
Well what are you waiting for Gill? You can hardly fail to see them in the right places in the Spanish Pyrenees. Get a cheap flight to Reus or Barcelona and then it's only about 4 hours drive to the Lammergeier capital of Europe....And if you're really into Lammergeiers then there is a whole chapter dedicated to them in my new book "Flying over the Pyrenees, standing on the plains" which, incidentally, is Subbuteo Natural History Book's "book of the month!". Furthermore you can even download a free chapter at the website, just to get you into the mood.

Thanks Steve - Christmas is coming and all that and Neil always asks me to give him a list of what I want. It usually comprises of LOTS of natural history books! ;) I'll go look at the website now.....

Just four hours from Barcelona huh? ;) We were thinking of a jaunt to Europe next year and Barcelona IS a place we both want to visit......architecture for him and birds for me :-O

I don't know why but that Survival programme (seen when I must have been just nine/ten years old.....I'm 39 now!) sparked something in me and Lammergeiers have become something of a magical beast to me :-O

Mmmmm hubby is asking me what I'd like for my 40th birthday pressie ;) Is a Lammer too much to ask? :-O
 
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