Possible observation of Bearded Vulture 'Vigo' in France
It has been two weeks since we last heard about the whereabouts of Bearded Vulture "Vigo" that has been touring the UK for the past few months. After receiving no information for a while, not knowing if "Vigo" crossed the English Channel successfully, there is now some hope that the bird did indeed reach France!
After "Vigo" left the north of England, he was observed at the RSPB's headquarters in Sandy Bedfordshire on 12th October, then south of London in Kent on the 13th, and the East Sussex coast on 14th and 15th. The latest observation of the Bearded Vulture in the UK was in the Beachy Head area of East Sussex on 15th October when the bird was seen flying out to sea around 14:00. Since then, we have been hoping that our local partners will send us an observation of "Vigo" in France. Then, the International Bearded Vulture Monitoring Network (IBM) recently received photos from two observations of a Bearded Vulture in France. On the 21st October we received an observation from the Allier Departement, around 200 km south of Paris. Then again, on Monday, 26th October 2020, a Bearded Vulture was photographed near Lyon.
The photos sent by the observers were compared with the last photos from the UK. Unfortunately, the photos do not allow the team to examine the special features of the plumage to confirm with certainty that the bird is indeed "Vigo", so it should be considered a “probable” sighting. We hope to be able to soon have full confirmation of this with more observations reported to the local monitoring partners and us. If you observe a Bearded Vulture in the Alps, please report your observations here.
Vulture Conservation Foundation
November 2020
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