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1335 Griffon Vultures crossed the Strait of Gibraltar at Jbel Moussa in one day! (1 Viewer)

A

Acrocephalus

Well-known member
Morocco
Vulture migration at the Strait of Gibraltar at its fullest. Yesterday, 5 November, we counted 1335 Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus) as they crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco in 6 hours (between 10:00 and 16.00). This figure represents approximately 50% of the migrant population of the species from the Iberian Peninsula and to a lesser extent from southern France, and is a Moroccan record (for the number of vultures in one day).
Some pictures posted in Moroccan Birds.

Many Rüppell’s Vultures (Gyps rueppellii) were among the Griffon Vultures during the last days in the northern shore of the Strait (See this video recorded by Birding the Strait on 28 October). But because most birds were either a bit far from us or high, we could not detect their presence once they reached Morocco.
 
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Acrocephalus said:
Vulture migration at the Strait of Gibraltar at its fullest. Yesterday, 5 November, we counted 1335 Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus) as they crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco in 6 hours (between 10:00 and 16.00). This figure represents approximately 50% of the migrant population of the species from the Iberian Peninsula and to a lesser extent from southern France, and is a Moroccan record (for the number of vultures in one day).
Some pictures posted in Moroccan Birds.

Many Rüppell’s Vultures (Gyps rueppellii) were among the Griffon Vultures during the last days in the northern shore of the Strait (See this video recorded by Birding the Strait on 28 October). But because most birds were either a bit far from us or high, we could not detect their presence once they reached Morocco.
Click to expand...

Wow, that must have been an amazing experience !! :t:

Richard.
 
super-silly-um said:
Wow, that must have been an amazing experience !! :t:
Richard.
Click to expand...
Indeed! This was the best in the last years in term of the number of migrating Griffon Vultures.

Farnboro John said:
Out of interest, what constitutes many Ruppell's Griffons?
Click to expand...
Nutcracker said:
None. But lots of Rüppell’s Vultures :king:
Click to expand...
Without thinking about it, I choose many over lots of because the former most used with countable nouns.

Now after googling "many vs. lots", the Cambridge dictionary confirms this, and added that there is some differences in formality between the terms:

Quoted from the dictionary: "We use a lot of and lots of in informal styles. Lots of is more informal than a lot of. A lot of and lots of can both be used with plural countable nouns and with singular uncountable nouns for affirmatives, negatives, and questions".

From the birding point of view, many Ruppell's Vultutres means 2, 3 and up to five were at that time around Tarifa.
 
Acrocephalus said:
Indeed! This was the best in the last years in term of the number of migrating Griffon Vultures.



Without thinking about it, I choose many over lots of because the former most used with countable nouns.

Now after googling "many vs. lots", the Cambridge dictionary confirms this, and added that there is some differences in formality between the terms:

Quoted from the dictionary: "We use a lot of and lots of in informal styles. Lots of is more informal than a lot of. A lot of and lots of can both be used with plural countable nouns and with singular uncountable nouns for affirmatives, negatives, and questions".

From the birding point of view, many Ruppell's Vultutres means 2, 3 and up to five were at that time around Tarifa.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much and full marks for the comprehensive response :t:

John
 
Over 3000 Griffon Vultures have crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco

Acrocephalus said:
Vulture migration at the Strait of Gibraltar at its fullest. Yesterday, 5 November, we counted 1335 Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus) as they crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco in 6 hours
Click to expand...

As the saying goes “records are meant to be broken”.

Yesterday, over 3000 Griffon Vultures have crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco at Jbel Moussa as recorded by my friend Rachid El Khamlichi. I wasn’t lucky enough to be there as last year.

Importantly, some flocks of Griffon Vultures were still at Tarifa (Spain) at the end of the day (some were still there today). This shows that the number of Griffon Vultures migrating to Africa have greatly increased over the years, as this number was estimated at between 3000 and 4000 birds in spring 2009. Between 1 May and 7 July 2015, 2138 Griffons Vultures were counted at Jbel Moussa (see table in page 7) migrating north.

Yesterday, he also recorded at least 2 Rüppell's Vultures and 2 Bonelli's Eagles. The latter is a sedentary species in Europe and rarely cross the Strait to Morocco, so it was a good sight as well.
 
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