Griffon Vulture Webcam in Israel

[Marbzy]

9 March

Between 8:50 and 9:00 the chick was fed by Mom, who had just replaced Dad. Just 10-15 minutes earlier Dad seemed unable to answer the chick's pleas for food.
At 9:12 the chick is probably comfortable under Mom, who is on the verge of dozing herself.

[...]

12:14 The chick is still with Mom


12:20 The chick is spending the day trying to sit up. This gives us a great opportunity to appreciate its size at just over 2 weeks of age


12:25 But staying up is not that easy when your head is so heavy. The chick is generally unable to maintain a sitting position longer than a few seconds - gravity keeps pulling down that relatively large beak

[Marbzy]

12:46 This attempt looks better. The chick is using his/her little wings like crutches


12:55 A few tasty fibres are pulled out from Mom's beak


12:56 Gotta wait, Kid. Mom's got an itch

[Marbzy]

12:58 You haven't finished serving lunch, have you?


13:01 Like mother, like chick?


13:03 Lunch is officially over. Mom is cleaning her beak against a bunch of sticks

[Marbzy]

13:55 Where's my food?! (Or was that a yawn?)


13:57 Mom appears as though she wanted to calm down the little one


13:58 Thinking to herself: "Where's me man? Why don't he come home and take care of this spoilt little brat?"?
Obviously, I can have no idea what she was looking at, though on several occasions I was able to observe her eyes follow another (small) bird flying past (some swallow-like birds can occasionally be seen flying past the nest at a fair distance)

[Marbzy]

13:59 Actually, the little one is not so little anymore


14:04 And here's the chick facing the viewers for once and sporting a rather obvious crop


14:16 More beak hygiene from Mom

[Marbzy]

Then I somehow managed to miss the shift change, and here's Dad at 14:26 (seems like he's been to a feast or, rather, a wake)


14:27 Dad went on to spend much of the afternoon protecting the chick from sunlight


[...]

17:51 Finally, supper

[Marbzy]

17:54 The chick is not afraid to venture deep into Dad's beak in search of food


17:56 This wasn't meat. Could have been a small stone or a tiny peace of bone (just guessing). One way or the other the chick was eventually able to swallow it with some difficulty


17:56 Some meat followed

[Marbzy]

Here's one to finish with:

17:58 The chick is biting at a stick, probably because Dad held the stick in his own beak a few seconds earlier. There seems to be a pattern along the lines of: "if Dad had it in his beak, it's got to be food"

[Anne7]

March 10th



Marbzy, thanks for the great work you do!
I really enjoy reading your comments and viewing your photos.

Mom is observing, ...


... preening, ...


... and yawning.

[Marbzy]

Anne7!

Thank you for your kind words. I have to admit, however, that it's your work on this forum (e.g. in several threads devoted to black storks), not mine, that deserves admiration.

Back to the griffons now, and let's go back a few hours

01:18 Dad, (two-thirds) like a train in a tunnel


11:28 It's still Dad, scanning the sky for Mom?


11:52 And Dad again, working on his plumage

[Marbzy]

12:00 Dozing at high noon


12:15 The stare of a professional boxer at a weigh-in


12:16 More sitting up practice for the chick

[Marbzy]

12:43 Could Dad by readying himself for a shift change?


12:47 Nope. I give up...


12:53 ... and miss a shift change again (just like yesterday)


The change must have been swift. They usually do take a few minutes to swap places.

[Marbzy]

12:54 Mom proceeds to promptly feed the little one


12:56 More food on the way!


12:57 Beak-to-beak delivery

[Marbzy]

13:01 The feeding's over. What are you staring at? (At the chick, actually, and at the black dot on the top of your head - is that a fly?)


14:06 But the black dot is still there, in the exact same spot (the dot has been there for a couple of days - yesterday it loked mre like an apostrophe, but her head was immaculately white back on 6 March)


14:08 (Sitting up) practice makes perfect. The chick is finding it much easier to maintain proper balance today than only yesterday, but here he/she is pictured lurching forward to rest on the beak

[Marbzy]

14:09 This looks better from the chick, the neck is bent backwards so as to place the head right over the body


17:04 If you wish to see the chick again, come back tomorrow


17:50 This fairly uneventful day (at least this is what emerges from these images) is drawing to an equally uneventful close

[Marbzy]

21:18 Tonight it's Mom who's staying with the chick


Good night.

[Marbzy]

11 March
Around midnight a fair amount of noise (like the footsteps of an animal or the claws of a bird using the cam as a roost) could be heard in the vicinity of the camera. Mom remained alert for at least 40 minutes, looking like this most of the time


Around 9:50 another change took place (I missed it narrowly, as seems to be the norm). Dad immediately fed the chick, who is now able to maintain balance not only while staying in a sitting position but also after getting up and reaching towards the beak of the adult while being fed. The chick accepted the food vigorously

11:00 Dad is now back on regular brooding duty


11:17 His eyes are half-closed - it looks as though he could do with a cup of coffee following his morning exploits

[Marbzy]

11:24 How now?


11:26 Dad is examining the nest bowl floor and the chick's underside. Junior sits up nicely


11:27 While preening, Dad reveals his bald spot

[Marbzy]

11:30 Dad exhibits his freshly preened ruff


12:37 Finally, I'm in luck


12:38 The chick's head emerges with interest. The colour of Mom's head and neck is quite revealing

[Marbzy]

12:38 The chick is scrambling in the nest bowl (how long is it before he/she crawls out?) as Dad and Mom watch. With the feathers on his back raised, Dad is reluctant to step away


12:39 In a curious ritual, both the adults engage in synchronised preening


12:40 The chick seems ready to address the nation