The Monasterio de Piedra is not just a gorgeous natural treasure, it also has a large collection of raptors, some of whom participate in a special show.
As with many things in Spain, the bird show is closed down in the afternoon. And when we arrived the last morning show had just finished. On the plus side it gave us a reason to really take our time with the waterfalls!
Even after spending hours walking around the waterfalls area, we still had time to check out the old monstery buildings before coming back to the bird show.
Possibly the most remarkable bird they had was a bald eagle. It is a huge animal and the keepers, all of whom were young women, kept wary eyes on it when they were within reach.
Another cool resident was the Cara Cara. Very unusual look:
During the show, he followed one of the keepers around at her heels, like a dog. He seemed to be a very smart guy.
There was also a beatiful snow owl.
We got to sit right up front at the show (because all the seats in the shady section were taken), so we ended up right next to one of the perches that are used during the show. This is another kind of hawk. The women seemed to be giving a good amount of description and explanation, but our cumulative Spanish skills weren't quite up to following it.
The area where they have the show is an open meadow surrounded by trees, except for one opening, where you can see across a valley to some old buildings. Some of the birds are driven to the far hillside (about 2 kilometers away), and during the show, release them. The keepers at the meadow then spin the birds' lures above their heads and these birds see them and come flying in. In this picture, a keeper has let a boy from the audience pull the lure across the grass, so when the bird came flying into the clearing he pounced on the moving target. In this picture, the bird is straight up from the boy's right wrist, coming out of the trees. This photo doesn't capture how really cool it was.
Another fun part of the show involved this pair of owls, who seemed like best buddies. They would come when the keeper whistled for them and hop up on her arm for treats. They could have been a pair of puppies from the way they acted.
The most impressive bird (possibly apart from the bald eagle) was the gigantic lion vulture. He didn't cooperate with us for a nice portrait, but you can see how big he was in the picture next to the keeper.
And flapping ominously across the clearing. He is only a couple of feet in front of the keeper in this picture.
Like any amusement park, at the entrance there was an opportunity to have your picture taken. We sprung for this one with Eero:
Cielo got to hold this owl for her picture!
