A young bearded vulture (probably wild born, 2nd calendar year) was found near Culemborg, the Netherlands, last Saturday, 13th May. It was first seen around 10:00am, while migrating north. Later that day, the bird was seen on three other locations, still moving north. The last observation was around 16:00, in the uppermost part of the Netherlands. So, in 6 hours’ time, the bird moved around 175 km northwards.
This is probably a different bird than the one that roamed the Netherlands and Germany in February and March 2017, based on plumage differences and other features. In retrospect, the bird used roughly the same route as Larzac did in 2016.
The bird continued north and last Monday (15th May) it was seen on Langeoog, one of the German Waddensea islands. Hopefully, he/she will be able to return to one of the mountain ranges where it has originated (Alps or Pyrenees)
Flying great distances and exploring new areas is normal for young bearded vultures, particularly on their first Spring. To fly all the way to the plains of northern Europe is not that common, but it happens every now and then, usually in May-June. With the strong southerly winds that occurred in the last week, the bird could fly huge distances daily.
