31/03/2022: Eagle day

 This was a plan long in the making. Somewhere in the mountains to the north of Crevillente, Spain, a rare eagle nests. Despite knowing nearly the exact area, I failed to see it last year when I visited in June. I aimed to rectify this issue with this trip. 

Naturally this entailed getting up extremely early in the morning in order to get to Crevillente at around 9am. The mountains here are stunningly beautiful, and the scenery is just incredible. As I walked towards my destination up ahead, I saw a bird of prey land on a particularly scenic mountain right ahead of me. It was rather distant, and even with my camera's zoom I couldn't make out what it was. Initially I hoped it was the Bonelli's eagle, but analysis later showed this was incorrect. 

I proceeded next to the general area where I expected to have a view of the nest, and waited there. For a long time, nothing happened, until a bird of prey suddenly soared up into view, above the sheer cliffs. The bird of prey was beautiful, nearly completely white below, with a lovely brown head, and its silhouette was different to birds I was used to. It hovered in the wind above the mountainside, completely motionless, circling overhead.

Even before I got a good view of the picture, I was more or less convinced that this behaviour, this colouration and this silhouette could only be a short-toed eagle. I was immensely happy with this. I had been trying to see these birds nonstop for the past three years, and each time I came up empty-handed. Only to see one of these snake specialists as it migrated through the area. It seems to me a stereotypical young bird. Over the course of this morning it circled through the area again, where I got another look at it. 

This was all good, but I hadn't seen my target yet. After a nasty encounter with an aggressive dog, I turned back after seeing the Bonelli's eagles circling way off in the distance. I wasn't prepared for what happened next. One of the Bonelli's eagles breeding in the valley must have flown behind a ridge running parallel to the road, flown on the other side and out of view, before suddenly emerging in front of me at close range, soaring together with a black kite, circling nearly overhead.

I was immensely surprised by this, and was really satisfied by the picture I had obtained. I continued home, where I admired the images I had taken. Two eagles in a day, one of which was unexpected and the other of which is a proper rarity for Spain. 

And what of the mysterious raptor I saw before the eagles circled above me?

The silhouette and colour similarities with a bird of prey I saw today leads me to believe this is the short-toed eagle which was later circling above me