Griffon Vulture Webcam in Israel

Any kind of vultures all over the world
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Marbzy
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Re: Griffon Vulture Webcam in Israel

Post by Marbzy »

30 October

03:04 Right after this the feeding station camera went to sleep - and it has not woken up since:
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05:40 Dad enjoyed a good night's sleep...:
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05:40 ... and then he went to work:
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Post by Marbzy »

05:49 Mom arrived a little later today:
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05:54 Bracing for a challenging day:
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06:51 Mom's napping:
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Post by Marbzy »

06:55 No, this is not preening:
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07:44 There's lots of activity overhead and, likely, at the feeding station:
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07:52 The two griffons on the ground are T72 and C58; the former is not a Hai-Bar resident:
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Post by Marbzy »

08:13 The youngster on the ground, much too young to breed, seems to be practising collecting nest material (sticks, hay, feathers, ...):
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08:14 This time (s)he's got a proper grip on the feather:
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08:32 T82, T93 and two others... Mom and Dad are really being tested:
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Post by Marbzy »

08:33 T82 wants to taste wood:
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08:34 (S)he's not the only one:
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08:58 J28 has joined the gathering:
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Post by Marbzy »

08:59 There are at leastfive vultures on the ground and more are still coming:
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09:48 Suddenly, there's a general rush towards the nest:
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09:57 And then they're (almost all) gone:
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Post by Marbzy »

10:10 Mom and Dad take advantage of a peaceful moment:
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10:11 The deed is done, and Mom's beginning to tell Dad his time has run out:
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10:11 It's rodeo!
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Post by Marbzy »

10:11 She's finally got rid of him from her back:
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11:00 Our lovely couple again:
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11:36 Mom's off, Dad's monitoring the neighbourhood on the ground:
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Post by Marbzy »

12:00 Dad on a dais:
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13:13 Where's everybody?
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13:39 Dad has just returned:
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Post by Marbzy »

14:18 2E5 is being a pain:
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14:18 Dad chases the sub-adult away:
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16:19 Dad's back in action:
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Post by Marbzy »

16:48 And here we go again with 2E5:
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16:48 2E5 outsmarts Dad jumping over his head:
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16:48 The chase is on:
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Post by Marbzy »

16:48 It's a narrow escape for the 4-year-old:
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17:06 Peace at last?
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17:09 No. Dad's got to jump out of the nest and fight another griffon (2E5, in all likelihood):
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Post by Marbzy »

17:09 Dad's not quite successful in driving the intruder away - Mom's taken over from him:
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17:11 The fight's rekindled, and Mom's giving the intruder quite a beating:
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17:12 It seems that Dad is about to spend another night on the edge of the nest:
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Post by Marbzy »

17:12 It's quite clear though that this is because of potential intruders being perched nearby:
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17:41 Is it time to call it a day yet?
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20:31 Good night!
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Hang on. There's no reason for this night to be good...
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Post by Marbzy »

It's a very dark night for vultures around the Old World. Europe is sometimes labelled a paradise for vultures (compared to Africa and Asia), but the following list of the 16 Old World vulture species, compiled using the birdlife.org Data Zone and iucnredlist.org, shows that we have nothing to be proud of with respect to how we have been handling vultures in the last three or four decades:

Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) –
IUCN status: Near Threatened
Estimated population of mature individuals: 15,600–21,000
Current population trend: decreasing

Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) –
IUCN status: Least Concern
Estimated population of mature individuals: 500,000–999,999
Current population trend: increasing

Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) –
IUCN status: Near Threatened
Estimated population of mature individuals: 1,300–6,700
Current population trend: decreasing

Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) –
IUCN status: Endangered
Estimated population of mature individuals: 12,000–38,000
Current population trend: decreasing

Rüppell's Vulture (Gyps rueppelli) –
IUCN status: Critically Endangered
Estimated population of mature individuals: 22,000
Current population trend: decreasing

White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus) –
IUCN status: Critically Endangered
Estimated population of mature individuals: ? (not more than 270,000 according to an undated, but apparently rather old estimate – over 90% population declines in West Africa were reported in 2006)
Current population trend: decreasing

Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres) –
IUCN status: Endangered
Estimated population of mature individuals: 9,400
Current population trend: decreasing

Hooded Vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) –
IUCN status: Critically Endangered
Estimated population of mature individuals: ? (not more than 197,000 as of 2011, when the species was classified as Threatened)
Current population trend: decreasing

Red-headed Vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) –
IUCN status: Critically Endangered
Estimated population of mature individuals: 2,500–9,999
Current population trend: decreasing

Lappet-faced Vulture (Torgos tracheliotos) –
IUCN status: Endangered
Estimated population of mature individuals: 5,700
Current population trend: decreasing

White-Headed Vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis) –
IUCN status: Critically Endangered
Estimated population of mature individuals: 2,500–9,999
Current population trend: decreasing

Palm-nut Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis) –
IUCN status: Least Concern
Estimated population of mature individuals: ? (80,000 pairs were reported in 1992)
Current population trend: stable

White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) –
IUCN status: Critically Endangered
Estimated population of mature individuals: 2,500–9,999
Current population trend: decreasing

Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus) –
IUCN status: Critically Endangered
Estimated population of mature individuals: 30,000
Current population trend: decreasing

Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris) –
IUCN status: Critically Endangered
Estimated population of mature individuals: 1,000–2,499
Current population trend: decreasing

Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) –
IUCN status: Near Threatened
Estimated population of mature individuals: 66,000–334,000
Current population trend: stable


All the figures above are for global populations. The species this thread has focused on is Griffon Vulture. It's one of the two Old World vulture species classified as Least Concern. Its global population is estimated to be somewhere between 0,5 and 1,0 million. Let's say 750,000 individuals. Globally. There are more than 766,000 people in the city where I live, according to Eurostat. One city.

More to follow. (But it's not a good night.)
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Post by Marbzy »

31 October

My farewell report

05:30 Dad's working on his cloak of feathers:
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05:46 Time to roll up the sleeves:
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05:48 Mom follows suit:
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Post by Marbzy »

05:48 She joins Dad on the nest...:
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05:49 But decides just to oversee his work:
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05:52 Dad steps forward to face the media:
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Post by Marbzy »

06:09 C58 answers the roll call:
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06:39 As watchful as ever, both of them...:
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06:48 ... but then Dad tries to catch up on some sleep:
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Post by Marbzy »

06:57 Mom does the same:
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06:57 Someone's just flown over their heads:
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06:58 Dad appears a bit weary:
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Post by Marbzy »

07:08 Back to work they go...:
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07:08 ... together as one:
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07:09 They might be in for a busy day here - T93 is not a Hai-Bar resident:
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