Landscape and Animal
Park Goldau


 
   

February – June 2007:  On 28th February, a Bearded Vulture chick worked its way out of an egg in the Landscape and Animal Goldau. It is a sibling to Folio and Temperatio and is called Blick. The parents, the Bearded Vultures Hans and Mascha (picture) raise the lively chick successfully.  

The 9th June is an eventful and difficult day for the young Bearded Vulture, Blick.  Early in the morning the 101 day old young bird was caught by the keepers, taken from the enclosure and transported to the Swiss National Park.  Her in the Val Stabelchod, Blick together with the Bearded Vulture Samuel, will be relased under a small rockface (picture). Hundreds of nature friends attend the spectacle (picture).
 

    


 


   

With a small satellite transmitter we will try to follow the tours of Blick.  However, Blick still has to master the art of flying (picture through telescope). As soon as we have been able to observe the first flights, we will report about it here

Blick’s first journey can be found on GoogleEarth >>>

    


 


 
   

June – July 2007: The first weeks in the freedom of the wild were mastered well by Blick.  From the start he investigated his new surrounding, ate eagerly from the food laid out for him and trained his flight muscles with great sweeps of his wings, this still without taking off in flight (Blick through telescope).

On the evening of 21st June, Blick and Samuel sat in front of their eyrie and soaked up the evening sun.  After a busy day of on-ground flight training they seemed very peaceful.  But at 19.20 a sudden warning cry from a Marmot was heard through the Val Stabelchod! And sure enough – Blick is ready to try. For the first time Blick was gliding through the air! At an age of only 113 days he was still slightly shaky, but with a wingspan of 2.8 metres he was impressive and not only for Marmots (picture). The young Bearded Vulture enthusiast and amateur filmmaker Lucas Pitch was able to capture one of the first flights and a rather hard landing on film (film 3Mb).
 

   


 



 
   

An exciting time is beginning for Blick.  The observation team are able to watch the rapidly developing flight craft from close up.  On the 8th July, we were able to watch a first challenge.  An adult Bearded Vulture paid a visit to the Val Stabelchod (picture). And, as Blick ascended, the presence of an experienced conspecific took him by surprise.  Using wild evasive manoeuvres he managed to avoid the many attacks by his ill-tempered visitor.  And he managed it masterfully (picture).
 

    


 


   

The satellite transmitter was accepted well by Blick.  From the first data, it is possible to see that Blick had already made a short trip in the direction of Münstertal and Zernez at the end of June (animated map). Soon Blick will leave his «nursery» and begin his tour of the Alpine chain.


 

    

 
 

 

    


 
   

August – September 2007: Blick (picture) has moved out into the world. On 1st August he flew about 40km from the release site in the Swiss National Park to the release site in the National Park Stilfserjoch (picture), where the three Bearded Vultures Temperatio, Zufall and Voltoi were released into the wild last year (see The Journeys).

On 4th August at 12 noon Blick was located 30km north west of the Swiss National Park near Piz Buin. The transmitter is working well so that we often receive more than one localisation per day. Because of this, we know that only four hours later Blick had arrived at the Reschen Pass in the South Tyrol. After a week in the South Tyrol, the young bird moved on to Zernez for a few days and then on 15th August to the Aroser Rothorn. Here he was spotted by the game warden Ricardo Engler on 18th August as he swooped over a dead sheep, this sighting resulted in a wonderful photo (picture).
 

   


 



 
   

One day after a short visit in the Safiental, Blick was located on 26th August at 12 noon by Pizol above Bad Ragaz. In only four hours Blick then flew about 65km to Zernez and spent time exploring the expansive area of the Engadin. Mid-September he went back to the Martelltal and then to the region of the Ötztaler Alps. The last locations in September came from the region of the Ofen Pass (animated map). The first tours undertaken by Blick are impressive and make us curious about the journeys he has ahead of him.

   


 


 
   

October – November 2007: Blick likes to get around.  The area that Blick covered with his circling in October and November measures about 4000km2 (see animated map). Everything seemed to be going well until we received, on the evening of the 24th November, data that caused concern!  The localisations in the last two days came from the same place in the Lower Engadin, near a place called Tschlin.  The next day we immediately set off the find out if something has happened to Blick.  The tension is high as we received the first data in Tschlin from Blick.  Thanks to the transmitter, we were able to find Blick within an hour.  To our relief, we were also able to see that Blick was still alive!
   

   


 



 
   

Amazingly enough, he was sitting in the middle of a forest (see. picture and animated photo). This strange behaviour could be because he was ill or injured.  Thus we decided to try to re-capture him.  We waited until night fell and then crept forward, step by step.  Blick is vigilant and notices us.  But Franz Gamper is able to grab Blick at the right moment (picture).
 

    


 


 
   

The next day Blick is already being examined by Dr. Curd in the Clinic for Pets, Zoo and Wild Animals of the University of Zürich.  His heart and lungs were both checked (picture). Blick did not appear to be suffering from an injury or an illness or poisoning.  However, he appeared to have lost significant weight.  Probably a large portion of the available food was snowed over due to the early onset of winter, new food would only become avialble through the winter, when the hoofed animals would be killed through avalanches and limited food.  Because of this, Blick was taken back to the Landscape and Animal Park Goldau on the 30th November (picture). Here, where he was hatched on 28 February, he will be able to eat until he has some reserves again.  We are already looking forward to setting Blick free to find his own way again, once he is fit and the food situation in the mountains has improved.

   


 



 
   

December 2007 – April 2008: After a long winter the Bearded Vultures can begin a great feast. With the melting snow (picture) many animals are being exposed that have died over winter. Thus, even old Bearded Vultures can find enough food for their hungry chicks. These have to grow quickly so that, in summer, they can fly the nest at the right time to start their own search for food.
 

   


 



   

For Blick (picture) the conditions are also perfect for his second start in the wild. The young bird has spent the winter in his large aviary in Animal Park Goldau (picture). The last health-check shows (film from Lucas Pitsch, 5 MB) that Blick is in fine form. Consequently, he is ready to return to the Grisons Alps at the next opportunity (picture). News from Blick’s second release will be reported here soon.

   


 



 
   

May 2008: The 13th of May was an exciting day for Blick.  Over winter he was able to build up his strength in the Animal Park Goldau. Now the young man is ready for more journeys through the Spring-filled mountain valleys.  The Foundation Pro Bartgeier met at 9.30 in the morning on the Ofen Pass (picture), in order to experience this spectacle together.  Before the big moment, Blick was given a new transmitter (picture).
 

    


  



 
   

At 10.05 am everything was ready. Chasper Buchli, the director of the Foundation, released Blick.  Immediately Blick open his gigantic wings (picture) and with strong strokes embraced his newly won freedom (picture). Before Blick left us for good, he sat on an outcrop of rock, took off again (picture) and treated us to a few laps of honour directly above our heads (picture). Now we are hoping that we will soon receive data from Blick that will tell us where he spends the coming weeks.
 

    


  


   

 

    

  



 
   

June 2008: The second release of Blick was a success (see may 2008). For the first few days, Blick remained in the area of the Ofen Pass (picture). But then he began to roam widely, as was his wont: two weeks after the release he passed by Chur and visited the Prättigau.  At the end of May he was in the South Tyrol, where Blick (picture) was localised near to the release point in the National Park Stilfserjoch. In June this was followed up by a flying visit to the Ötztaler Alps.
 

    


  



   

After this, there was a lengthy tour of the Swiss National Park (21st June), in the Tyrol (22nd June, 12pm), in Prättigau  (22nd June, 2pm), in Glarnerland   (22nd June, 6pm) and lastly in Urnerland  (23rd June, 2pm). Here, near Urirotstock, he flew 20km south past his place of birth, the Nature and Animal Park Goldau (map). After this, momentarily longest, tour Blick returned to the Engadin and to the South Tyrol (see animated map). Will Blick fly so far again in the next months?  We will find out soon…
 

    


  



 
   

July – October 2008: Right from the start – the Bearded Vulture Blick (picture) always has a surprise up his sleeve.  But to start at the beginning: Blick spent most of the summer in the “Three-Country-Triangle” of Italy, Austria and Switzerland.  Worthy of mention are the tour of the Lechtal Alps (mid July), a visit to his “nursery” at the release point in the Swiss National Park (end July) and his flying visits to various, wild, broody Bearded Vultures (August). In September Blick travelled between the mountains Braulio and the Ötztal Alps, in October back and forth between the Lower Engadin, South Tyrol and the Ötztal Alps. Here is an overview of Blick’s tours: animated map.
 

    


   



 
   

A special spectacle was provided for Mr and Mrs Fleischer from Berlin. On the 26th September around midday they were near Vent in the Ötztal Alps. Suddenly, a massive bird sailed straight towards them and went past Mrs Fleischer at eye level only four metres away.  Mr Fleischer reacted quickly and he managed to take a few very good photos (picture left and picture right). The order of the bleached feathers told the surprised couple that it must be Blick.  The sighting was also confirmed by the satellite data.  Only one hour after the direct sighting, Blick was localised 4km south west of Vent.

    


   



 
   

November – December 2008: Again we can follow the journeys of Blick in detail (picture). Up to the middle of November, Blick was to be mainly found around the  Naturpark Texelgruppe. This was followed by a short detour in the Lower Engadine (picture), before setting off towards Innsbruck at the end of November. There, in the border country region of Imst and Innsbruck, Blick remained for a few days until he, mid-December, returned to the South Tirol  (animated map).
 

    


   



 
   

Blick did not remain out of sight on his tours.  On the 9th December Bruno Raich was near Zirmbachalm, about 25km east of Innsbruck.  About midday a Bearded Vulture flew over, about 20m above him.  Before the bird flew away, Herr Raich was able to take a photo upon which the markings of Blick are clearly visible (picture). This shows that Blick has managed to deal with winter much better than in his first year of life.  We are very interested in how the story will carry on.
 

    


 



 
   

January - February 2009: Once again Blick has provided us with an unusual story! This time in front of a running camera. To start in January: As the year changed Blick was to be found in the South Tirol and finally moved in the direction of Innsbruck, along the Lechtal Alps and reached the Vorarlberg at the beginning of February. Here, near the Bregenz forest, a very special meeting occurred on the 2nd February: Markus Grabher was on a ski tour with his friends. The weather was rough and a foehn-storm was blowing over the mountain chain. As the tourers reached the Ruchwannekopf in the early afternoon they suddenly spotted a circling Bearded Vulture in an anticline below them. After a few minutes the bird had gained altitude (picture) and approached the group of four curiously. It began, at a distance of 10-20m to circle over the summit (picture).
 

    


   



 
   

Thanks to the good photos from Markus Grabher the feather markings and even the leg-rings (right: pink, left: golden) clearly visible. This means that it is possible to definitely identify Blick (picture). Unimpressed by the foehn-storm, he let himself drift on outstretched wings over the Ruchwannekopf for ten minutes until he swooped of in heading South. We are delighted that Markus Grabher was also able to make an impressive film recording, which he has published on youtube (see film). Also worthy of mention is Blick's first trip to Germany: on the 6th February the young bird was in the area of the southern Oberallgäu. The last localisation came in from the Vorarlberg (see animated map).

   


 



 
   

March - June 2009: What's up with Blick? Up to mid-May, we received regular data from Blick's transmitter. They reveal that the Bearded Vulture was underway in the Engadine and surroundings for a long time.    Blick especially made regular visits to the Swiss National Park.  At the end of May we waited in vain for new signals. As, at the beginning of June, still no data had arrived we assume that the predetermined breaking point has arrived and that Blick (picture) is now underway without a transmitter. In order to verify this we search, using a field receiver, the area where the last signal came from.  Unfortunately, we were not able to find out anything about the current location of Blick or his transmitter. 
 

    


   

 
   

The – after we had given up on expecting news – a lovely surprise: at the beginning of June, all the missing data of the past weeks arrived.  Obviously, Blick had been in areas where there was poor reception so that it was only then that a transfer of data was possible.  It is possible to see on the animated map, where exactly Blick has spent the last few weeks (map). We hope that the breaking point is not reached for a while yet and that we can follow Blick's journeys for a while yet.