Bart_van_der_Wolf
pro member
Last year a single couple of 'white-tailed sea eagles' (Haliaeetus albicillus) built a nest in the Netherlands and managed to increase their offspring by one. This was the first nesting couple in my country since the middle ages! The sea eagle, AKA 'the flying door', is Europe's largest bird of prey with a wingspan of some 2.5 metres, and it is very easily scared away, so it's a bit of a miracle that they managed it in this relatively densely populated country.
Here's some 'footage' of last year's event, leading up to the juvenile abandoning the nest:
http://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl/actueel/nieuws/details.asp?NWS_ID=870 (Click "filmpje" at the bottom of the page).
This year the same eagle couple has returned and they have just started remodelling and adding to last year's already huge (2000 kg) nest. The nature reserve area around the nesting site is off-limits for the general public, but a solar-panel powered wireless webcam in a waterproof housing has been set up, thus allowing to follow the event. It's a 3CCD day (color) and night (IR) camera mounted on a pole at 12 metres height, and it can be controlled (pan/tilt/focus/zoom) from the base observation station 7 kilometres away.
And here is the current live webcam feed:
http://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl/actueel/zeearend/media/zeearend.asx, or try this link. If there is insufficient solar power to charge the batteries or feed the camera, due to extended periods of heavy cloud cover, a test image will be broadcast, but one can access archived streams.
The male and female take between 35-42 days to brood on 2 eggs before hatching, and the young stay in the nest for 8 weeks. It's a nice opportunity to observe, from the comfort of your home.
Bart
P.S. Latest news: The website is being updated, and this capture was just posted there:
http://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl/actueel/zeearend/archief/default.asp?vid=1
Things can load slowly (or fail) because I noticed this event just hit national news on TV.
Here's some 'footage' of last year's event, leading up to the juvenile abandoning the nest:
http://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl/actueel/nieuws/details.asp?NWS_ID=870 (Click "filmpje" at the bottom of the page).
This year the same eagle couple has returned and they have just started remodelling and adding to last year's already huge (2000 kg) nest. The nature reserve area around the nesting site is off-limits for the general public, but a solar-panel powered wireless webcam in a waterproof housing has been set up, thus allowing to follow the event. It's a 3CCD day (color) and night (IR) camera mounted on a pole at 12 metres height, and it can be controlled (pan/tilt/focus/zoom) from the base observation station 7 kilometres away.
And here is the current live webcam feed:
http://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl/actueel/zeearend/media/zeearend.asx, or try this link. If there is insufficient solar power to charge the batteries or feed the camera, due to extended periods of heavy cloud cover, a test image will be broadcast, but one can access archived streams.
The male and female take between 35-42 days to brood on 2 eggs before hatching, and the young stay in the nest for 8 weeks. It's a nice opportunity to observe, from the comfort of your home.
Bart
P.S. Latest news: The website is being updated, and this capture was just posted there:
http://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl/actueel/zeearend/archief/default.asp?vid=1
Things can load slowly (or fail) because I noticed this event just hit national news on TV.
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