Today, I bit the bullet and went up to the Peak District to finally see the Lammergeier aka Bearded Vulture which has been hanging around the area. One of the best things about living in Peterborough is how close many places are; and it only took a couple of hours to get to Woodhead Reservoir on the main road between Sheffield and Manchester. I was watching the giant vulture on its roosting rock at 7am.
It is an incredibly impressive bird, as you will know if you have seen the photos or read the reports (or indeed, if you have seen it for yourself). Everything seems slow motion about it. Over the next few hours, although the views were quite distant, I watched it flying about, feeding on carrion it had brought back to the ‘feeding crags’, preening, pooping, flying and feeding some more.
Also, it was frequently mobbed by several Kestrels and even by a couple of Buzzards, which compared to the vulture looked speedy and tiny, seeming to be about the same length bill to tail as the depth (front t back) of a Lammergeier’s wing!
Other highlights included a few Crossbills flying by (which I picked up instantly on call, after obsessing with them, recently!) and a few Ravens.
I will be back, particularly if the mighty vulture grows a decent tail!
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