Sharing the Sky

I flew Sunday, but not for terribly long; it was bumpy, cold and hard to get high. After an hour or so I decided to land.

At one point I encountered around 12 vultures in a thermal and couldn't resist joining them. The vultures live in a big colony in the Verdon gorge just to the south and fly the paragliding trade routes in their search for food. If you see them flapping you know it's going to be a slow day.

They didn't really seem to care about or even acknowledge my presence. They circle very smoothly, but are obviously a lot more maneuverable than a paraglider. At one point a vulture turned sharply in some lift and was heading towards me. I knew he could see me and my wing, but I was worried he would fly into my lines. But no; full air brakes on, he dove under me and glided away, doubtless cursing amateur pilots.

PS Maybe I treated this too lightly. A few days later this article appeared on the paragliding forum and you can see the action in this video. I don't think I'll join any vultures in thermals any more.