Near Haut-Koenigsbourg in France is a castle called Kintzheim that houses only raptors.
These are bateleur eagles that I photographed in the wild in Africa and never expected to see again in France!
Of course you recognize these beauties, who I also never expected to see in France.
The castle runs a program called “La Volerie des Aigles,” which is dedicated to breeding, conserving and educating the public about vulnerable raptors. Birds are flown daily, and are an unusual sight soaring over the old towns and orderly fields of France. The castle has bred many endangered raptor species including Andean condors, and stellar, imperial and white-tailed eagles, and many other species, including vultures.
The white-headed vulture is endemic to Africa. Populations have been declining steeply in recent years due to habitat degradation and poisoning. Our planet needs vultures, they are designed to keep our world clean.
The cinereous vulture has an impressive wing-span of 10 feet. It is under serious threat. There are only an estimated 4,500-5000 of these amazing birds left in the wild.
The golden eagle is distributed across Eurasia, North America, and parts of North Africa, but has been eliminated from much of it’s prior habitats.
Harry Potter’s snowy owls are here too!
The public can visit the castle for a nominal fee which not only supports the raptor conservation program, but also provides an up close experience with these incredible birds which will, unless your heart is made of stone, cause you to become enraptured by them.
Admission also enables you to explore the quite impressive old castle ruins.
Cheers to you from Castle Kintzheim’s gorgeous and threatened raptors~
I love their little faces.
I am so happy you do & thank you!
Fantastic photos—I would love to visit this castle!
I hope you do some day and post about it too!
Great post!
Merci beaucoup!
Welcome!
❤
It’s interesting how the words raptor and rapture come from the same root. Lovely photos!
Yes and the root morphology is pretty fascinating in meaning over time:
Medieval Latin raptura “seizure,” from the Latin cognate raptus, meaning, “seized and taken, kidnapped by force, snatched hold of and then taken hostage, carried off or away.”
The use and meaning of the word ‘rapture’ has changed dramatically over time. Rapture is a noun that means:
1. Overwhelming happiness: a euphoric transcendent state in which somebody is taken away by happiness or delight and unaware of anything else.
2. In Christianity mystical transportation: a mystical experience of being transported into the spiritual realm, sometimes applied to the second coming of Jesus Christ.
3. If you are familiar with the Latin words used to describe a specific class of birds of prey, such as eagles or hawks, they are known as, “raptors,” because of their method of hunting, which is to, “seize,” live prey with their sharp, powerful talons, grasping rodents or fish unaware or hopelessly trying to escape, and then they, “carry it away.” The raptor as a bird of prey is also from the 14th century Latin, “robber,” which is also derived from the obsolete French word rapere. (Source: Craig Bluemel)
Interesting about all the different meanings. There is a tenuous connection here between all of them, which is pretty cool.
Yes. It is fascinating. Especially when we start making these connections intuitively without knowing the linguistic roots, almost like it’s imbedded somehow~
Fabulous 👏🏻 the white headed vulture looks very grumpy I like his pink neck
He is so odd looking that he is actually quite cute isn’t he! Hope all is well with you Charlotte~
The eyelashes on the white-headed vulture are really sumthin’! Great close-ups, Cindy!
Yes, that vulture is like some sorta rorschach test photo, better the original ink blots, I had strong positive reactions to the photo. What do you think that means?????? Laughing~
Wow! Beautiful photos of these amazing birds, thanks for sharing
Thank you more for appreciating them & cheers to you!
Thank you for your visit, Cindy. 🙂
Be well my friend & hugs to you!
Reblogged this on SUSANNE LEIST.
Thank you for supporting these amazing creatures Suzanne!
awesome pictures!!
Merci beaucoup mon ami!
Hi Cuz,
Been on a long quiet break from writing…., doing a lot of reading, and a little painting. What’s with these birds ??? Is there some kind of avian stylist in that castle ??? Hahaha !
Mother Nature is earth’s best stylist! Great to hear from you and happy you are painting and writing and looking forward to seeing the results! Be well cuz~
Such intense gazes. Spectacular!
Love my bird loving friends ❤
Reblogged this on firefly465 and commented:
A wonderful post from Cindy, with some amazing photos.
On behalf of the 🦅🦅🦅 and myself, thank you!
My pleasure, Cindy. xxx
Reblogged this on Blog Pad 2017.
Thank you for supporting these amazing creatures & cheers to you! 🦅
You are welcome!
What incredible photos Cindy, never quite seen anything like this before. All these birds are so full of expression how did you manage to capture those individual looks!!!
Birds have outsize personalities. What always surprises me most is how sweet they can be.
Beautiful as always Cindy– I like the heads only photos as if they were portraits. But my favorite it the owl– magnificent!! thanks again for bringing the beauty of the world to where we can appreciate it! xox
You are a joy virtual friend Rhonda and whenever I hear from you my ❤ smiles!
Amazing animals!
Very happy you think so & cheers to you!
beautiful birds. have heard of this castle and its birds, I never visited though. would love to one day.
I hope you do visit and post about it too! ❤
If I get there someday, I will surely post about it. so many things to do in France. one day at a time.
So many things to do in THE WORLD! And the more we see, the more we realize we haven’t seen.
this is very true. It is like thinking how can I go see everything all at once and fill the blog with the world hahaha LOL
❤ ❤
Love the portraits, beautiful!
I am honored. Thank you.
I learned so much reading this! Great photo diary! Bless their hearts, I’m sure their mamas think they’re pretty devils.
I’m not their mama, and I think they are bee-yute-tee-full! Laughing…..but then I tend to like critters inordinately!
Your pictures are always impressive!
Alberto Mrteh (El zoco del escriba)
Thank you!
Thank you for bringing me close to these wondrous birds and giving me the knowledge others across the world are taking measures to preserve their species. I hope they are breeding them. To help circulate the word, I will repost this to my site.
Thank you for your kind support of these amazing creatures& & lovely to meet you!
Reblogged this on Writer's Block No More and commented:
This is not only a beautiful site, but extremely important to share with others – reblog on your site, too.
I am honored and humbled Annette. Thank you & cheers to you! ❤
Oh my, that baby rapture and I have the same neck thing going on, LOL….I’m not there yet but adopting turtle neck fashion very soon. I’m always amazed how well preserved but old, things are in Europe. Castles amaze me. I look through the windows and think about who else has looked at the same view throughout time.
Yes, I love staying in the really really old places. It is like time travel and I love the feeling and the mystery of it. Your neck is beautiful. Just like you! ❤
Naw, shucks ❤ (I went to type 'shucks' and typed sucks…LOL…and though "wait a shake?") 😀
Cracking up……..Have an awesome trip in NoCal my friend~ ❤
Beautiful close ups
Thanks so much & cheers to you!
Lovely pictures!!
Thank you very much & I am so sorry I missed this comment.
Reblogged this on LIVING THE DREAM.
I so appreciate your thoughtfulness China. Be well my friend~
What photographs! What a bird house!
Thank you. These birds are just magnificent. Their fierceness can never be quenched.