Aquila fasciata

Pico de la Nieve in the Tous mountain range, on May 8th in the year of Our Lord 2010, the thirty-sixth year since the first episode of the series El Hombre y la Tierra was broadcast, and which also coincided with the year six hundred and ten since the Christian troops of King Henry IV of Castile reconquered the town of Estepona from the Muslims. The moon in its waning phase seeking conjunction in the following days with Mars and Saturn.

In these solitary mountains where I have carried out some of my photographic projects for years, some shepherd friends who knew every corner of these places accompanied me to a place, in a rocky cliff, where they had located a nest of Bonelli’s eagle Aquila fasciata.

After a few weeks visiting this site to monitor the evolution of the only chick of this raptor, one of the most elegant and powerful in the Iberian Peninsula, the time had come to tackle my first photo shoot of this rare and elusive species.

I spent the previous night in the corral where the shepherds kept their goats. I have spent many days with them and their flock in the mountains, where they are happy and lack nothing. I am aware of this, I leave my worries behind and try to merge into this “universe” of peace, where time seems to stop, and haste and stress are not welcomed in these parts.

While Amando finishes shaping some clappers for the bells, his brother Jose serves a wonderful chard rice with wild snails on the table; in the centre of the table, an onion marinated with the oil of these lands. For dessert, cheese with honey, all home-grown, milk from their goats and honey from their own beehives in the mountains. To finish, an infusion of wild tea with freshly cut thyme, for digestion.

Outside the wind whistles and we hear the owls singing. Inside, by the warmth of the fire, we talk for a while, but soon we fall asleep. The crowing of the rooster wakes us up just before dawn. The shepherds prepare their things to go out with the flock one more day. I say goodbye to them and quickly head to the hiding place I set up days before to photograph the Bonelli’s eagle. The path to reach the nest site is hard, there is no path, and you have to cross a succession of rocky hills full of thorny bushes. 

When I arrived at the shelter I made myself as comfortable as possible, ready for a long day. And the wait was worth it, of course… because being able to have her so close, feeding her chick in the wild, left me completely amazed.

Playing your song: