Northern Serrias

Well over 50 Griffon Vulture were at the re-introduction scheme on Mount Alcoy. Both wing-tagged birds. like this one, and wild birds, were observed together

  After dropping off Trish at Alicante Airport to return to the freezing cold and snowy conditions in the UK, Bryan and I set off into the warm sunshine, inland towards the Northern Serrias. It took us just over half an hour to get there and passing through we haded up to the hills above Alcoy to hopefully see Griffon Vulture! There were turned over fields on the left hand side of the road and I noticed Chaffinches flying around. I pulled into the side and started scanning. There must of been over 200 birds and with them were a small group of Rock Bunting! At last I had seen one, including a stunning male. As we pulled away, 4 Griffon Vulture were high above the mountains. We quickly parked up and started walking up a track until we arrived at the area where the birds were just overhead. From here we were looking down on Alcoy and you could also make out the wild Griffons from the yellow wing-tagged succesful re-introduction birds. Over 40 were in the air together, while at the same time, some were perched on rocks at close range. Also on the track, we got lots of Crested, Coal, Long-tailed Tit, Short-toed Treecreeper, Black Redstart and 2 Firecrest. It was bloody cold up there, but we were soon in the sun again when we returned to Alicante.

Griffon Vultures in the skies and Rock Bunting in the fields.

This Crested Lark was in the fields nearby

hauntingly beautiful. Her voice gets under your skin. Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hearafter with 'Lullaby'