The spectacular sight of a golden eagle and a bearded vulture in the skies over Premosello

(photo by Stefano Basalini – Val Grande Park)

 

The spectacular sighting of a majestic golden eagle and a bearded vulture in the skies over Premosello was made on 25 January, by a patrol from the Premosello Park Police Station; Stefano Basalini and Marzuolo Ennio observed and photographed a young bearded vulture (a rare and large vulture) with a golden eagle, over the Alp “I Curt”.

Exactly one year ago, Manuel Piana, the official park guide, had made a similar sighting in that area. On that occasion, the bird had been identified as the bearded vulture Fredueli, thanks to the presence of some light feathers, which had been bleached especially, to make recognition easier.

As the National Park of Val Grande explained in a note, “Fredueli is a bearded vulture that was born in a Spanish breeding facility, on 14 March 2018, that was set free, in June of the same year, in Canton Obvaldo, in Switzerland, together with its sister. In order to monitor the bird, it had a GPS transmitter fitted and some of its flight feathers were bleached before its release.”

The bird sighted by the patrol did not have any bleached feathers, so initially, it was not possible to identify it with any certainty. However, it was suggested that this was indeed Fredueli, and that, after moulting, it had lost its lighter flight feathers and replaced them with new, darker ones.

After the sighting, the Carabinieri examined the photographs to continue their search, in an attempt to identify the bird. An initial analysis revealed an atypical bulge on the back, which was consistent with the presence of a GPS transmitter. As a result of this detail, the Carabinieri focused on analysing the daily locations of the bearded vultures that had been released, and it emerged that, on 24 January, Fredueli had been in the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola Province, in the Varzo area, and on 25 January, in the lower Anzasca Valley.

At this point, forestry police asked those responsible for monitoring to obtain the exact position of Fredueli on the day of the sighting, at precisely 10.30 a.m. on 25 January 2021. The time and position coincided with those of the bearded vulture that had been sighted, and thus confirmed it had been Fredueli.

 

Translated by Ovalle Charlotte and Aldea George Andrei

Reviewed by Prof. Rolf Cook