Vultures all over the world

[Marbzy]

The male returns after a minute:


Honey!


I forgot the shopping list.

[Marbzy]

This time he's off for good:


The female:

[Marbzy]

28 March

I don't know this pair well enough to tell them apart until I've seen the yellow band on the male's leg. I couldn't spot it today, so I'll just avoid any reference to the birds' gender below. (Actually, I can't even tell whether two or more birds were involved...).

CV1 incubating:


CV2 has just arrived:


CV2 takes off:

[Marbzy]

Four minutes later a CV (CV2? CV3?) descends directly in the nest:


CV1 takes his/her precious time, but eventually gets up, allowing the other CV inspect the egg:


Then it's kisses:

[Marbzy]

CV1 leaves the egg to the mate:


CV1 then spends half a minute on the branch to the left of the nest:


And then CV1 is back after five minutes:

[Marbzy]

More kisses:


CV1 returns to his/her perch:


CV1 has got bored and transferred to an alternative perch:

[Marbzy]

One head to the right, the other to the left:


Finally, CV1 is off:

[Marbzy]

29 March

The story of another changeover, or: they like to do it in instalments:

17:41:48 the male arrives, lands on a branch, does some gardening
17:42:26 the female gets up, exposes the egg


17:42:36 the female makes a false start, then a proper jump to the branch in front of the nest
17:42:54 the female is away
17:43:34 the male jumps to another branch, closer to the nest
17:44:08 the male jumps into the nest and inspects the egg


17:44:17 the female is back - she lands plonk in the nest; they both inspect the egg
17:44:35 kisses


17:44:52 more kisses
17:44:59 the female is away
17:45:19 the male lies on the egg
17:48:55 the female returns with a twig
17:49:58 the female flies away
17:50:30 the male rearranges the new twig

...

[Marbzy]

...
17:53:53 the female is back with more nest material, the male gets up
17:54:16 kisses
17:54:37 the male is off onto the branch on the left


17:55:02 the female settles down on the egg
17:55:51 the male takes off
17:59:37 the male is back with another twig
18:01:40 the female rises to her feet
18:01:48 the female jumps onto the branch to the left of the nest
18:01:52 the female flies away


18:02:12 the male begins to settle on the egg, it takes him about a minute to find a comfortable position

Mission accomplished

[Marbzy]

30 March

Un-be-lie-vea-ble:


Just a reminder: this is central Spain


The poor bird's back and wings are almost completely white

[Marbzy]

Shaking off some of the white stuff:


But it's not going to be an easy night:

[Marbzy]

These guys are simply fascinating. Here's the scene at 15:47:17:


Then the incubating adult rises to (presumably) her feet:


And another CV lands on one of the branches away from the camera:

[Marbzy]

Seconds later a fourth CV flies past:


A curious standoff:


The CV who landed a minute ago is a yellow-band wearer (hence probably the legitimate father):

[Marbzy]

Are they going to come to blows?


Far from it:


And the yellow band wearer is the first to depart:

[Marbzy]

Seconds later, the incubating adult is left on her own - all the commotion and no changeover:


Given the apparent lack of hostility between the two CVs one of whom is not a parent at this nest, you have to wonder what sort of relationship they have. They seemed to have a good old chat with just one instance of behaviour that could be interpreted as openly aggressive (at 15:54:49 the yellow-banded CV clearly pecked at his interlocutor's neck). Could they be chicks of the same parents? Here they are again during their "kissing" routine (presumably, a form of greeting allowing them to identify each other):


So many questions, (so many vultures), and so little time...

[Birdfriend]

Thank you Marzby for your continuous work here.

Pic from now:

[Marbzy]

Birdfriend! Sierra de Guadarrama was just crazy today, wasn't it?

31 March: the day when a black vulture turned white

Things looked weird in the morning:


Only to become ridiculous just an hour later:


Then came the time to shake off the white coat:

[Marbzy]

Jump!


Livin' on the edge


Going to the loo was useful exercise, but how do you climb back down into the hole?

[Marbzy]

Right foot in front...


Stability regained


So this is what it means to dig deep

[Marbzy]

45 minutes later:


The snow cover is broken again:


Out to the edge: