Bearded Vulture

When I went to bed last night I really wasn't expecting to be out in the Lincolnshire Fens this morning, watching a Lammergeier or Bearded Vulture (you can see the beard on the silhouette if you view in large). These are normally rare birds of mountainous parts of Europe, but, as many people will have seen, this year a young female spent much of the summer in the Peak District. She left there a couple of weeks ago and seemed to be heading for mainland Europe, but turned up in Norfolk at the end of September, and was spotted roosting in a pine tree near Moulton Chapel yesterday evening. 

I very rarely 'twitch' but couldn't miss the chance of seeing such a spectacular bird almost on the doorstep. For the first hour or so of daylight she was hunkered down on a ploughed field looking rather forlorn in the driving rain. As the weather improved she started to preen, and about ten minutes after I arrived took to the air, where she was instantly surrounded by a huge mob of corvids, which were ignored completely. She flew about a mile north before perching in a large Black Poplar, where she showed equal disdain for the moderate crowd of mostly socially-distanced birdwatchers (see extra). I was offered the opportunity to look at her through a telescope - so amazing to look closely into those dark and brooding eyes. Soon after, the rain set in with a vengeance and I decided it was time to go home for a hot cup of coffee!