Dolores

This is Dolores the Eurasian Black Vulture. She lives at the bird of prey sanctuary near me and is beautiful.
She is disabled and has a dodgy left foot and wing so is unable to fly and instead lives on the ground with her partner who is also female.
This picture is of Delores standing guard next to the nest that her and her partner have made. Every year they make this nest, Delores lays an egg in it and then they take it in turns sitting on the egg to keep it warm whilst the other watches or goes and gets food.
Sadly, every year they also have to abandon the nest and the egg as although her and her wife believe that it is going to hatch, this never happens because no male vulture has fertilised the egg.
They are very devoted to each other though and as we were leaving the bird sanctuary we went to say goodbye to her and she was putting sticks on her partner as a blanket to help her stay warm on top of the nest.
That is why she looks so proud in this photo.
Read less