Bearded Vulture, or Lammergeier, is a bird I have seen in the high mountains of the Himalayas, Tien Shan, Alps and Pyrenees but when I heard of reports of the long-staying bird in UK from a little north of Peterborough, in the southern part of Lincolnshire, the chance to see it in the lowlands of England prompted me to make a plan to wake up early and head north to see the bird at first light in the tree it was known to be roosting in. Waking up at silly o’clock the traffic was light and I got on site, where other birders were already watching the bird, perched on top of a tree, around 150 metres away, across a field. Standing in a village, watching the bird was a little strange but locals seemed interested and not too annoyed by the circus that had descended upon them.

Being mobbed by Carrion Crows, Jackdaws and Rooks, the Bearded Vulture remained mostly obscured by the foliage of its roost tree and to be honest the experience was not really that special, but how that would change later in the day!

Roosting on an old Rook’s nest wasn’t the best choice for any raptor not wanting to attract the attention of mobbingcorvids, but the Lincolnshire Lammergeier didn’t seem too bothered by the attacks, only flinching when the odd Crow got extremely close.

Like most of the birders present I was waiting for the Lammergeier to fly, when it would be at its most impressive with its wide wing span. When it eventually took flight it gave a nice display, at a distance, with a flock of attendant corvids abdgering it as it flew off to search for food.

After a few fly pasts the vulture flew off into the distance and tracking the firection it had flown in I drove into an area of farmland to look for it. At first I couldn’t see it but on a map I noticed a road that went right out into the fields and when I drove down that I found the Lammergeier sitting in a field with a pair of Roe Deer checking it out. A bit of a wing flap sent the deer running and attracted the attention of a Crow which bothered it for some time until it took off again and flew off to a further field.

By this time I had been joined by lots of other birders all keen to get a good sighting of this special bird but it was no longer visible from this spot. As every time it flew its general direction was always the same I thought that another road further away would offer the best views as it moved in that direction. Once I got there several other birders were already there, watching the bird in a distant field but once again it did not take long before it took off and flew towards us, eventually settling close to the road, and finding something to feed on.

Being able to see this bird at close range was much more of a memorable experience than watching it on its roost site but the best was yet to come as it once again took off and headed right towards us, floating slowly above the heads of a few of us, no more than about 5 metres above our heads, almost stalling it was flying so slowly. An absolutely incredible way to see this bird. At one point it seemed like it had mistaken us for carrion and was about to pounce on an unsuspecting photographer.

Slowly it moved onwards, heading again in the same direction so remembering that there was another road crossing the fields in its direction of travel I drove on again hoping to anticipate where it was going to arrive next. A flock of startled Lapwings gave me a clue as to where the bird was but several parked cars with birders watching was the giveaway and over the next few minutes many more cars arrived and those of us there were treated to a really good show as the Lammergeier fed on a rabbit carcass and made several close flight passes. Wonderful.

Although the road became a little congested, people were behaving well, getting their cars off of the road as much as possible and keeping away from traffic and each other. In a miserable year this bird was bringing a lot of joy to people, not just bird watchers but random passers by, with the crew of “white van men” getting as excited about it as the twitchers. Certainly many of us had the experience of watching this massive bird at close quarters down as one of the birding highlights of the year and even if it does not get accepted on the British list because it originates from a reintroduced population it does not detract from the enjoyment at the time.

I created this graphic and used it to produce a t-shirt for myself using an online service. It is available for others to order in several slightly different designs and a variety of colours. You can see them here – Bearded Vulture T Shirts.

The massive size of this Bearded Vulture is what is so impressive about watching this bird in Lincolnshire but it also has a very strange face with beady eyes and a sneering expression. It reminded me of the Skeksis in the movie “The Dark Crystal”. Take a look at the two photos below to see what I mean.

For those who want to catch up with this magnificent bird there have been sightings in Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire in the last few days and it is hard to see how it will find strong enough thermals to gain the height it needs to cross the English Channel to get back to mainland Europe through the winter so it is likely to be around for some time. Go and see it if you get the chance.