Читать книгу The GR11 Trail. The Traverse of the Spanish Pyrenees - La Senda Pirenaica онлайн

16 страница из 51

The massive Griffon vulture, with a wingspan of about 2.5m, will frequently be seen soaring on the high ridges, while the smaller Egyptian vulture, which is distinctively coloured with a white body and black-and-white wings, is also likely to be seen. You may also see Europe’s largest and rarest vulture, the lammergeier, which has a wingspan of up to 2.8m. The lammergeier feeds mainly on bone marrow, which it gets at by dropping bones from a great height to smash on the rocks below. Golden, booted, short-toed and Bonelli’s eagles may be seen, too. Arguably, the most beautiful bird you will see is the red kite, with its deeply forked tail. You can also expect to see black kites, buzzards and honey buzzards as well as smaller birds of prey such as the kestrel, peregrine falcon, sparrowhawk and rarer birds such as the goshawk and even a migrating osprey.

One species which seems to be thriving is the alpine chough, which you will see in large flocks. This member of the crow family is all black except for a yellow bill and red legs. Rarer small birds to look out for are the wallcreeper, crossbill, crested tit, red-backed shrike, bullfinch and alpine accentor.