Introducing: Hercule the Griffon Vulture

Hercule is not one of our pets, but has certainly become part of the landscape here. He is the offspring of a pair of Griffon Vultures who have settled on the rocks above an old stone bridge just upstream from us. In the past we have seen colonies of these vultures at Pego da Rainha, and along the Tejo River, but never closer to home. That is until this year, when we started to see a couple of them circling in the sky. The Griffon Vulture, or Eurasian Vulture, has its largest population in Spain, and a couple of hundred pairs in Portugal, so we were over the moon to see them flying near the mill, and then we were even happier to spot young Hercule on the rocks waiting for his parents to bring food. He wobbles around on the rocks quite happily and does not seem to notice us beneath him. Griffon Vultures are typically born in February and take their first flights sometime between June and August, so we look forward to spotting him up in the sky with his parents very soon.

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 In reading up on them I discovered some amazing facts about Griffon Vultures, which will make your mouth drop!

- Adult vultures are huge with a wing span of 2.3-2.8m (or 7.5 to 9.2 feet).

- To find enough carrion, Griffon Vultures typically travel between 80 and 200 miles a day.

- They have developed a highly efficient soaring system, which only uses 1.4 times their resting energy rate, and conserves a huge amount of energy. They can survive two weeks without eating.

- Vultures rely on sharp eyesight and a social network to help them locate food. Whilst they often forage alone, they also fly in large grid formations with other vultures, keeping miles apart, but watching their neighbours over vast landscapes. When one bird drops all the neighbours follow, and it is not uncommon to have 100 birds all feasting on one large carcass.

In case you're interested, Hercule got his name from a social post where we asked people to name him. We had some great suggestions, but this one really suits him!