Paisajes ibéricos: Iberian landscapes

No birders or birds in sight here, just some peaceful scenes from places around Lleida, our little corner of northeast Spain.

Canal d’Urgell between the drylands and Lleida

Evening light, autumn day.

Another view from the Montroig mountain

 Mist rolling in over the hills of Mont-roig.

Montroig mist

Morning.

 FInestres hermitage in Montsec

Spirituality – and the hermit came in search of solitude.

Creaking bones inside, breaking bones outside

Our Lammergeier hides get excellent results, but admittedly are not over spacious.

Bird photographers unloading at the Lammergeier hide 

Photographers getting ready to occupy the Lammergeier hides

Photographers patiently await the arrival of Lammergeiers, Griffon Vultures or Black Vultures. Or perhaps fidget nervously in anticipation of that special shot… the Lammergeier in flight, on the ground, landing, taking off…Either way, there isn’t anywhere for them to go until the designated pick-up time. No wonder they rub and massage their creaking bones when they get out of the hides for a welcome stretch.   

But a few stiff joints are worth it to get that close to the famed bone-breaking Lammergeier.

Adult Lammergeier with bone

Lammergeier with bone

Michele Mendi came to us in mid-November and was very pleased with some of the photos he took. He has very generously offered to share some of them with BirdingInSpain.com and our readers, as a preview of some of his work. 

Adult and immature Lammergeiers in flight

An aerial dispute

Black Vulture by Michele Mendi

Black Vulture, or Black Sheep?

Griffon Vulture

The Griffon Vulture – a handsome bird? 

Many thanks, Michele! Marvellous!

Michele was not alone. Present too was Frenchman Sebastien Beghelli from Naturapics. Sebastien gained a lot of useful experience here, as well as some very good shots which we hope to see in the near future. Come on Sebastien, show us some more!

November visitors also included two of Scandinavia’s top photographers:

Tom Schandy. See some of Tom’s photos and his article  here (someone translate from Norwegian please!)

Brutus Östling from Sweden. See Brutus Östling’s blog article here (English translation available).

And below a couple of the landscapes I enjoy while watching the proceedings from a distance.

Griffon Vulture on the rocks

Mountain view in Spain