Phototrip Videos - Birdinginspain.com

Lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus)

In February 2009 Belgian  wildlife film-maker Gerd Herren came to northeast Spain with his friend and bird photographer Franck Renard. They were both very keen on getting fine images of the Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus and so contacted us at BirdingInSpain.com upon recommendation of the renowned Swedish wildlife photographer Magnus Elander.

Magnus had visited us in the previous autumn and had used our Lammergeier hides to great effect to obtain images of this species for his mission with Wild Wonders of Europe -see the Wild Wonders blog entry and Birdinginspain's blog entry

Gerd’s and Franck’s 3 days in the hide in the Pre-Pyrenees of Catalonia exceeded their expectations. Not only did they get excellent images of Lammergeier (on one day they had a total of 15 Lammergeiers at or around the hides), Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus and Black Vulture Aegypius monachus, but they also enjoyed the whole experience: flocks of sheep, abandoned villages, snow-capped mountains, solitude and friendly people.  

The most exciting day of all for Gerd and Franck was their third and final day in the hides when a sudden and heavy snowfall transformed the landscape and the appearance and behaviour of the birds themselves. That afternoon I was driving my red Suzuki along the rough tracks leading to the hides, a good half hour’s drive from the nearest road even under normal conditions. With some concern I could see that the snow was falling in big flakes and settling on the ground in increasingly thicker layers. Beautiful though it was I was worried about getting my photographer friends back to civilization by car, rather than us getting snowed in and having to walk with all their gear for a few hours down to the nearest village. When I got to the hides they came out and greeted me, both of them with big smiles on their faces, as happy as small children in a sweet shop.    

Did we make it back through the snowdrift? See the video and find out for yourselves. There are also some amazing views of Lammergeiers and Griffon Vultures, Spanish mountain scenery, etc. 

Gerd made this video from his experiences during this single visit. He obviously enjoyed himself, because he came back in the spring with his wife. Then they were just in time to enjoy marvellous fields of poppies. But that’s another story...

Interested? Feel free to contact us and ask for more details.