Vultures Sanctuary
The Verdon Gorge is a river canyon located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is often considered to be one of Europe's most beautiful. It is about 25 km long and up to 700 metres deep. It was formed by the Verdon River, which is named for its startling turquoise-green colour, one of the location's distinguishing characteristics. The most impressive part lies between the towns of Castellane and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, where the river has cut a ravine to a depth of 700 meters through the limestone mass.
The Gorges also offered a unique environement for an ambitious conservation program. Having disappeared in the 19th century in the Verdon, vultures were reintroduced in 1999 in Rougon and since then, they have settled in the vertiginous cliffs of the Gorges du Verdon. More than 150 vultures are now living in the canyon and reproduce naturally.Date: June 2020
Location: Gorges du Verdon
You can observe these majestic birds in the Gorges du Verdon, more specifically from the viewpoints along the famous Route des Crêtes. Here are some Griffons Vultures (whose wingspans can measure up to 2.7 metres) taken from those cliffs.
We got lucky enough to see a good number of these birds our first day, but they tend to fly fast and high so the opportunities to take good shots are challenging. Patience is part of the game with birding and being in such an incredible place makes it easy as the landscape is a beauty for the eyes. We have decided to camp there so we could enjoy a beautiful nightsky before going to sleep. Woke up just in time to enjoy a colourful sunrise before an other magnificent day waiting for vultures to come and visiting the area.
Rougon is a unique village with a great opening view at the Gorges. It is also the place where vultures have been reintroduced. From time to time you can see a migratory raptor flying around. Smaller than the griffon, the Egyptian vulture, also known as the Percnoptère Vulture is rare to observe as only a few mates are flying through France during the breading period. One of them was kind enough to show up when we were exploring the reintroduction area. I wish someday I will have the opportunity to take a closeup portrait of these birds.
Camping there was a really great little adventure, these moments are better shared with friends and I spent these few days with a good one and fellow photographer. I'd like to thanks him for his support and his secret pasta recipe, it was delicious !! The next two shots are from his portfolio, he is an incredible photographer. If you want to see more of his work visit his website at www.chrishooke.com
Thank you for reading this little article until the end, next time, take two lovers of nature and photography with you on holidays and be ready for big adventures, you won't be disappointed !
All these images were taken with a Nikon D750 and a Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 for landscape and a Canon 5DsR with a 300mm f/2.8 for birding. I processed them with Lightroom and for more fine adjustement with Photoshop and Luminar 4.