Lammergeier photo tour review
Lammergeier in flight. By Franck Renard.
Since 2008 we at Birding In Spain have organized Lammergeier – Gypaetus barbatus – Bearded Vulture – photo trips to Spain for almost 100 photographers from almost all western European countries, as well as Poland, Russia, India and Sri Lanka.Our first Lammergeier hide was in the Pyrenees of Lleida, Catalonia. Since then we have developed another site nearby, but with different hides. Take a look at these Lammergeier photos taken from these hides by different photographers participating in our Lammergeier photo tour over the years:
Lammergeiers in flight. Photo by Jonny Verheyden.
Lammergeier close up. Photo by Chris Schenk.
And then look at these photos of Lammergeiers and other vultures taken on a recent photo tour from the hides we have recently helped to develop at a brand new site in the Pyrenees of Aragón:
Lammergeier in the Pyrenees of Aragón. Photo by Jan Pedersen.
Griffon Vultures in the Pyrenees of Aragón. Photo by Beat Rüegger.
The best thing about the hides at the sites in the Pyrenees of Catalonia is the number of photos of vultures, especially Lammergeiers, that the photographer can get in a single day: on occasions more than 20 Lammergeiers have appeared at these sites in the Catalan Pyrenees, along with plenty of Griffon Vultures and small numbers of Black Vultures and Egyptian Vultures. So there is no shortage of photographic opportunities from the hides on this photo trip!
With the hides at the site in the Pyrenees of Aragón things are different. Lammergeiers appear in front of the hides often enough, but are not guaranteed. Furthermore only small numbers of Lammergeiers appear, you can’t expect more than 2 or 3 of these so-called Bearded Vultures in a single day. However, participants in this photo trip are rarely disappointed, as there is usually plenty of activity from other raptor species such as Griffon Vulture, Red Kite….
The advantage of the hides in the Pyrenees of Aragón is the mountain setting, the marvellous background. And the fact that, despite the vagaries of the weather these days there is more chance of that cold white stuff that bird photographers seem to love: snow.
You can get more information about our Lammergeier photo trips and other photo tours by contacting Steve West at BirdingInSpain.