This time of year sees a life and death drama unfold on numerous occasions above Gibraltar's skies. Tired migrating raptors reach the cliffs of the Rock of Gibraltar after crossing the sea. Here they are met by territorial Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus brookei and Yellow-legged Gulls Larus michahellis.
The Peregrines are defending their nest area and have daily battles with the gulls for rights to airspace
The gulls do the same, hanging in the wind above the nests, ready to pounce on anything that comes near...
The levels of aggression increase now that the young have hatched...
So migrating raptors are up against it...
For starters, they have the sea crossing, often in high winds. Here a Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus struggles to reach the Rock. In the background, Ceuta on the North African coast, where it has come from, with the tall Rif Mountains behind.
Utterly exhausted, it crash lands
Others, like this Black Kite Milvus migrans, are immature birds in moult or with many flight feathers missing. This doesn't help either...
Then there are the gulls and the falcons...
That also forces unexpected landings...
Some of these birds recover and fly off but others are not so fortunate...
they ditch in the sea, and drown...
So this is the real drama of life and death. Can we blame the gulls and the falcons? I think not. They are just defending their own...
