Bird Watching or Twitching in Andalucia Southern Spain
August 2004, Griffon Vulture
With a wingspan of up to 280 cm this is a huge raptor. It eats carrion, from rabbits killed at the roadside to goats and sheep dead in fields. It is resident in this area of Spain and favours soaring around high crags, Casares, Gaucin and Castellar are good places to see them but the best of all must be the coast just west of Algeciras between the small resort of Getares and the mirador looking out to Africa south of Tarifa.
Thirty two of these majestic birds were soaring on the westerly updrafts from the cliffs. They were swinging in from left and below and then soaring up and across to the right, a fantastic spectacle and at that range unmistakeable.