21st Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Travel
Where Vulture's Dare

Against the backdrop of mighty Himalayan mountains, two Lammergeiers are spreading their huge wings to scan the horizon. Photo taken with my Samsung A52S smartphone camera. Lammergeier are also called the Bearded Vultures because of the tuft of dark feathers under their beak. With a wingspread of nearly 3 metres, they truly rule over the mountain sky. I was at approx. 3700 metres above Jomsom in Mustang district in the Annapurna Conservation Area in Nepal to come to Yarzhu view point from where I could see Nilgiri Himal Mountain, Tilicho peak, Dhaulagiri Mountain (seven highest in world), Tukuche peak and the Tibetan plateau from same point. I saw two of these vultures in the other side of the mountains and waited patiently for them to come towards the mountains. Wind was extremely strong and getting stronger every minute. It was quite cold and holding the camera for long was becoming difficult. Luckily the vultures flew to the mountains scanning for food. I decided to leave my 300mm and take few photos with my smartphone camera to capture the mightiness of the scene with the minimalistic birds over the snow-clad Himalaya mountains.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 11.2023
Date Uploaded: 11.2023
Photo Location: Jomsom, Nepal
Camera: SM-A528B
Copyright: © Mainak Ray