Little Owl, Lleida Plains, Catalonia
LITTLE OWLS MAKE LOVELY PORTRAIT SUBJECTS! A pair are nesting in the same pile of limestone rocks that I photographed them on three years ago on the Lleida Plains and whilst they are not uncommon it is sometimes tricky to capture them in the light you are looking for. Add to this their reluctance to perform when it is windy or raining. In this case the light was soft evening at the end of a very hot and sunny day. It was well worth the wait.
Male Little Bustard, Lleida Plains, Catalonia
THE DISPLAY OF LITTLE BUSTARD IS ONE OF THE WILDLIFE WONDERS OF SPAIN and is not to be missed. I have now spent almost 60 hours watching and photographing them from photo hides on the Lleida Plains of Catalonia and I have still not quite achieved the shot I am hoping for. Capturing the right phase of the bird's display jump in nice light (= around one hour or so each morning) is hard enough but achieving a nice background is just as important and unfortunately the farmers in this area now seem hell-bent on eradicating poppies and other flowering plants from the lovely rolling farmland landscape. I have also learned that you have a better chance of a jumping bustard if you do not take any shots at all until it has jumped several times. It takes some time build up to the this phase of its display, from strutting around making its 'raspberry blow' call to fanning its black 'cobra neck' feathers and if it is not disturbed during these phases it may eventually make its way to one of its hardened mud lekking pads where it will start to stamp its feet before each call. Foot stamping is usually a pre-cursor to jumping. However, it is difficult for most photographers to resist the temptation to bag a few portraits thereby blowing their chances of jumping shots! Weather plays a part as well and they do not usually jump in cool temperatures or after rain. Listed as near-threatened by BirdLife International owing to a decreasing population it is another bird to watch while we still can. A big thank you to our excellent partners Birding in Spain, whose photo hide placement was impeccable this year!
Male Little Bustards chasing, Lleida Plains, Catalonia
LAMMERGEIER IMAGES CAN BE STRIKING AS TINY SUBJECTS AGAINST A VAST LANDSCAPE. I was hide testing for our partners in Catalonia, La Sabina, and even though I was not lucky to have a bird land at their new feeding station (as they had been doing regularly the previous week) I still managed a nice composition. A wonderful partly snowy Pyrennean background dominates the scene in front of their hide but the only Lammergeier(s) I saw were in the valley below and bored with no sign of any other worthwhile opportunities I tracked a distant bird as it passed across the mountainside, firing when it crossed a dark pine forest. I always shoot fully manual and was happily correctly exposed for the bird, therefore darkening the forest below it and giving an almost night-time effect. Just a lucky outcome but now one of my favourite Lammer images and another lesson that birds do not need to be big in the frame and tightly-cropped like a postage stamp. See how the Lammergeier's massive tail make it look like it has a third wing!
EGYPTIAN VULTURES ARE SADLY ON THE WAY OUT. Currently listed as 'endangered' by BirdLife International owing to a rapidly declining population they are definitely birds to watch while we still can. We were lucky to be able to visit the state-of-the-art raptor flight photo hide at Lleras near Tremp again this year and as well as some very close birds there were lots of opportunities to shoot these attractive little vultures in the air as well as on the ground. I remember the skies around the Taj Mahal being filled by them 20 years ago and now you are lucky to see one or two there. The decline has also been seen across Africa and although there are some pockets where their numbers are stable (presumably where they are not blighted by the veterinary drug diclofenac), like Oman and Socotra, the prospects for their long term survival look very bleak. Unbelievably the same horrible drug has recently been authorised for use in Spain, which will probably mean the end for this and most other vultures there. Judging from their actions most present governments absolutely do not care about wildlife. I wonder when the backlash from those that do will come?
Egyptian Vulture, adult
Egyptian Vulture, immature
