Following the discovery of a fifth breeding colony by the ICNF, the LIFE Aegypius Return project ensures the continuous monitoring of the colony\u2019s only chick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a normal day monitoring Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos<\/em>) under the Alentejo heat in Southern Portugal. At Herdade do Monte da Ribeira, in the municipality of Vidigueira, Nuno Ventinhas spotted a dark blot at the top of a stone pine tree (Pinus pinea<\/em>), surprised and at the same time doubting what he was seeing. He immediately shared the information and some images with his colleague Carlos Carrapato, who reported the good news to the LIFE Aegypius Return project team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fifth Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus<\/em>) breeding colony in Portugal was just discovered!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nuno Ventinhas is a technician at the Centre for Migration Studies and Bird Protection (CEMPA) of the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF, the Portuguese nature conservation authority) and works regularly with ICNF\u2019s Regional Delegation of Alentejo, where Carlos Carrapato is part of the Regional Department for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity. Despite their many collaborations in biodiversity monitoring work, they certainly didn’t expect this discovery, or at least that it would happen so soon in that region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The importance of the finding justified a prompt new visit, reinforced by a team of ICNF technicians and formalised by a meeting with the owners of the estate. New field prospections resulted in the confirmation of four Cinereous Vulture nests, one of them with a chick – the “blot” observed on the previous field trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n