Mortitx vineyards and olive groves

I picked a walk out of our guide book for today, mainly because it wasn’t too far to drive.
It turned out to be a wonderful place, full of incredibly old olive trees growing in a vast limestone natural reserve. I wonder how old some of these trees are? Growing in such dry harsh conditions they must grow very slowly. Did they see Romans?
We came across a place where vultures were obviously fed, many desiccated goat bones lying around. It’s really wild and far from the harmful activities of humans, this is the area where the black vulture reintroductions have been taking place so successfully. The population has increased to over 250, from a desperately low 11 not so many years ago. The island has also recently become home to Griffon vultures after around 100 were blown off course by a storm in 2008 and set up home.
It is noticeable that there are large areas returning to a wild state, with little sign of grazing any more. I guess that marginal farming has become less appealing than the tourist service industry. Good for the wildlife to some extent although too much scrub can be less productive.
We have certainly had an amazing vulture experience this week!
We finally got to see three Eleanor’s falcons, swooping about over the sea in their hunt for incoming migrant birds!
A hot walk back and another swim in our pool!