Golden Eagles of Montesinho

Chris and Chris

4 years ago

**Photomontage of Golden Eagles (Águia-real) in Parque Natural de Montesinho**

Over the last few years we have occasionally seen Golden Eagles in the park, mainly in the remoter area near to the village of Montesinho. It has been our ambition to get a closer look at these magnificent birds. We also know that wolves occasionally roam this area.

We use remote cameras in Woodcock Wood, and have long thought it would be fascinating to set one in Montesinho Park to see just what we could capture on film.

The bait was a cow’s head from a butcher. We selected a spot where we had seen adult and juvenile Golden Eagles in previous years, in an area that straddles the Portuguese / Spanish border.

**It’s a remote spot as far from 4×4 tracks as we could manage, as hunters and their dogs are out during this season.**

Day one – 23rd October

We tethered the bait and fixed the camera, and left the scene late afternoon. The forecast was that beautiful autumn mix of rain, wind, and a little sun …. and waited a week.

What did we expect?

At worst nothing, or perhaps an early discovery by hunters’ dogs; at best Golden Eagles or wolves; most likely Red Foxes, Crows (Gralha-preta) or perhaps Ravens (Corvo).

What did we get?

Six hundred plus images and videos of Golden Eagles, plus a few other surprises!

Day Two – 24th

The camera was triggered for the first time at 8.20 the following morning by a juvenile Golden Eagle. The bird spent an hour and 40 minutes at the head eating solidly. It then appeared briefly at 11.30 and again at 12.08 …. and that was it for the day.

**The juvenile Golden Eagle is distinguished from the adult by the white panel of feathers on the underside of the wings, and prominent white on the rump and in the ta**il. Juvenile birds will keep this pattern until they are sexually mature, at the age of 4 to 5 years.

Juveniles have more of a preference for carrion than adult Golden Eagles, hence their vulnerability to poisoned bait, either left intentionally, or left to kill foxes etc. It isn’t just in UK on the grouse moors that these beautiful birds are persecuted illegally.

This young eagle will be about 7 to 8 months old. In this area, eggs will be laid in February or early March, and the bird will have fledged around July. It is usual for only one chick to survive. As with many raptors, it is common for the older chick to kill its young sibling – see for instance our observation of the Common Buzzard in Woodcock Wood earlier this year: https://woodcockwood.com/buzzards-at-the-nest-part-2-fledging/

Day Three – 25th

An overcast day, turning into strong wind and rain – the juvenile eagle appeared at 9.30, and ate solidly until 11.00. At 1.30 a Red Fox makes a cautious appearance. It circles the bait and moves on – very wise, as a Golden Eagle is well able to take an adult fox.

At 2.00 the adult Golden Eagle arrives.

The adult’s plumage has light fleck in the wings and shoulders, and is uniformly dark underneath. Note the size of its talons. Little wonder that foxes and similar sized mammals and birds need to take care!

… and within a short time the juvenile arrives. It can be heard above the noise of the wind calling plaintively, but it remains out of view. After half an hour the adult moves away from the head, and the juvenile takes its place.

**The juvenile is at the carcass, and the adult looks on.**

The weather is now awful! The pair stay with the carcass intermittently for the rest of the day. The juvenile in fact is there until well after dark, finally leaving at 7.00pm. It is then that the our other friends appear!

The Creatures of the Night!

The Red Fox is the main contender. At first very wary, but later it tackles the head full on. It makes several visits during the night. For some reason the camera didn’t trigger on the moment that the main part of the head was removed, but it seems likely the fox was the culprit. The lower jaw remains tethered.

Later, at about 5.30 am, a stone marten (?) appears briefly, and moves on. Its body length appears similar to the fox. The video shows it to have a pale front. It doesn’t seem to have the contrasting face markings of a polecat, **and too large for a stoat.**

Day Three – 26th

The juvenile arrives at 8.00. There is obviously still something on the carcass worth picking at. The juvenile is joined by the adult at 9.00.

They both leave. The juvenile briefly returns on two occasions, but there is too little on the carcass to interest it.

We see no more of the eagles, but we have one more visitor that night.

**A javeli makes a brief appearance. It circles the spot, pauses, and bolts to the side.**

When we arrived to collect the camera on the 30th we were puzzled by the disappearance of the main part of the head. The cord that tethered the lower jaw to the ground had been stapled in place with two long steel pegs. This was missing, along with the pegs! The lower part of the jaw was close by. The cord was neatly severed on either side, a few centimetres from the jaw bone.

The 3 hour walk to França was full of speculation as to what had happened. We were nowhere near to guessing!!