Vultures seem to appear out of the blue; they are entirely silent and move remarkably quickly across the deep valleys and along the high slopes. Each bird watches everyone else and when one arrives there are soon more in train. At Col de la Core, the gateway to Mont Valier a group of upto 15 or more appeared; there seemed to be carcase they were interested in but none descended, just circled repeatedly then left, came back and left again. At Port de Lers, a couple of Griffon vultures and a pair of Lammergeiers circled out of the dense grey cloud and disappeared back into it before persistent rain descended. Here in the Ariège valley at the top of the road to the huge talc quarry, one suddenly appeared right in front of me and I’m not sure who was more surprised.