Griffon Vulture Webcam in Israel

[Marbzy]

13:38 And here we go again


14:17 The outline of the crop suggests a parental visit in the last few hours


19:03 There are too many gaps in the coverage today, but clearly there has been no revolution

[Marbzy]

19:11 The chick gets up to carry out a search in the nest floor


19:41 Time to get ready for bed


20:23 Tomorrow the chick will turn 100 days old


Good night and fingers crossed!

[Marbzy]

1 June

04:01 The chick is sleeping lying on the ground


04:02 Good morning!


09:53 The chick has got untagged company!


In fact, it has now become very common for other vultures - mainly non-breeding singles and couples whose efforts failed this season - to visit this nest (and probably many others in the area, too). Their visits and aggression towards the current tenant are understood in terms of attempts to book the nest (i.e. take it over) before the next breeding season as well as potentially to even win a mate in the process (no, the chick is not a likely candidate).

[Marbzy]

09:53 This particular visit appears quite peaceful, but I have no idea if its initial stage was equally placid (aggression tends to be observed mainly directly after a foreigner's arrival)


09:58 The labelless visitor has departed the scene - the chick breathes a sigh of relief and gets up cautiously


10:01 Another guest! At least this one is quite harmless

[Marbzy]

10:02 The brave youngster bristles and barks at the little Egyptian to send him flying (just the tips of the Egyptian's wings can bee seen at the bottom edge of the image)


10:44 Lazy hours


11:57 Oh, no. Here's K53!

[Marbzy]

11:58 The visit begins with a heavy blow to the chick's back, but then acquires a fairly relaxed tone


11:59 These must be nervous moments for the chick


12:00 K53 is, however, more interested in his own plumage than in the kid

[Marbzy]

12:02 The chick has no arguments in confrontation with the huge male


12:04 I suspect we are going to see K53 coming back here again and again


12:55 This image cannot tell the whole story - the story of balance


The chick is actually scratching his/her head here. This action requires the scratcher to be able to stand competently on one leg. The chick's action is still not quite fluent, but (s)he keeps going without losing balance and having to support him-/herself with the other foot.

[Marbzy]

13:05 A news update


13:40 A mynah comes to congratulate the chick on the hundred days the griffon has lived


13:40 But the chick shows no interest

[Marbzy]

13:55 It's that moment when you can read the labels...


13:56 Dad has been to a wake and now he can get the party started


13:56 This is some lunch!

[Marbzy]

13:58 The kid is all shaking for joy (or for more food, actually)


13:58 The visit may not have been long, but it definitely served its purpose


13:59 The penny is dropping (the - feeding - is - over)

[Marbzy]

14:05 The chick gets the ball rolling


14:06 The bowtie ball is not a metaphor


14:07 For a moment it seems that the chick's impetus is going to carry him/her across to the left-hand section of the ledge

[Marbzy]

14:08 Then the chick exhibits the complete sets of 10 primaries and 25 secondaries


14:10 That ball again!


15:17 Being a griffon vulture on an exposed rock ledge...

[Marbzy]

And then: crash (16:14)


There's no live stream until the evening, but when the stream is back, the camera is focused on the Egyptians' nest


And it's still there at 23:17.

Perhaps we'll have better luck tomorrow. Good night!

[Marbzy]

2 June

10:15 The camera spent the night with the Egyptians and it is (still?, again?) focused on that nest


11:05 As the cam changes focus, it offers a glimpse of another griffon chick in a nest located not that far to the left of the nest


11:06 Back to our little hero - and his/her Mum

[Marbzy]

11:06 The chick will have been fed, and Mum is wiping her beak against the cliff (when the chick was much smaller, the parents would often wipe their beaks against the chick's down - I'm not sure if the chick would allow it now)


11:07 Mom looking a touch infernal


11:08 Mom's trademark takeoff

[Marbzy]

11:09 Mom's gone, but I wouldn't mind another lunch


11:37 The chick's ecstatic - Dad's just docked home


11:38 The little glutton sucks up the goods

[Marbzy]

11:39 Here's Dad making his trademark post-feeding move


11:41 The camera operator's reactions are quick today


11:44 A few minutes later, there is a reunion

[Marbzy]

11:45 A new delivery


11:48 Unusually, Dad wanders off to the right


12:21 T49 is enjoying an uncharacteristically long spell on the ledge

[Marbzy]

12:31 Then he rediscovers his favourite vantage point


12:33 He attends to his plumage, revealing the huge tag on the inner side of his right wing


13:25 Dad's been watching over the little one for about two hours already

[Marbzy]

13:48 The chick tries to attract Dad's attention once again


13:53 Could Dad be trying to assert his authority following all the foreign incursions which have or have not been documented here?


14:37 Exactly three hours since arrival, Dad is off to pursue some other business