Noord Brabant - 2011 / multiple cams

[Ellie]

Chick number two arrived sometime earlier today.  One egg to go!!

[Ellie]

Just a heads up that the "Stone Owlets" are in the proscess of hatching.  There is one wee one and still two eggs.  So little and cute!!

[Kinderchick]

Thanks again for all of your updates, bcf!

[birdcamfan]

Steenuil: The stone owl eggs should hatch at any time. They were due today. She is glued to them so I haven't been able to see yet. There are now only 3 eggs. There was suspicion that one of the eggs was infertile as it seemed to be dry inside and therefore would fly all over the place whenever she got up. It was eventually pulled out by her as she hopped out of the nest. Stay posted!

Oehoe: The eagle owl chicks wandered out of camera view last week or so. There is a delightful view of the ledge and it is cool to tune in when it is night there-you can hear the owls, frogs, and who knows what else.

Ooievaar: The 3 remaining stork chicks are growing like weeds. They are trying to stand up in the nest but are still really quite clumsy. Both parents are working hard to feed these kids. They are like bottomless pits!

Boerenzwaluw: The camera was moved to a different nest because the male in nest 55 did not successfully find a mate. The camera is focused on nest 24 now and 6 eggs were laid this week. The incubation is 14 days and hatch is due about May 30. This site reports some rain this week and this is good news as it has been very dry in Netherlands and there has been worry that there will be inadequate bugs to feed the young.

Boomklever: The nuthatches have hatched and there are 7 chicks so far. It is very hard to count them as they are buried in nesting material, mostly leaves. When a parent comes with food, the tiny beaks rise like little tulips and are quickly stuffed with food. Once full, they cannot rise up as far and so the hungry ones rise up above those who have already eaten. I always wondered how that worked, the web bloggers explained it. They are just too cute!

Enjoy!

[birdcamfan]

This nest box always gets messy looking, especially if there is a large clutch. They remove a lot of the pellets when they place rings on the owlets. The blog has a running total of the types of foods that have been brought to the mother owl. The pellets are also studied. I guess the messy nestbox is a good thing, there is plenty of food. Most of the blogs on this site are talking about the drought in this area. There is worry that the usual bugs, worms, and grubs that are a staple of the young owls will not be plentiful. There have been a lot of June bugs, but their hatch is early. I hope that they are able to sustain the food supply here. Weird weather all over the world I guess.

[moka]

The stone owls have four eggs now. Over the past three days, the nest box has gotten dirtier and more cluttered.

Last year, after all their chicks hatched, they brought in and stored all sorts of tasty owl treats. Yuuuckkk! but the chicks were happy and well fed.

[birdcamfan]

An update on these many cams:
Steenuil: The stone owls seem to have won the battle against the doves who still come around and sit outside the nest box. The are promptly chased away by the male. He is a good provider and brings mainly June bugs, worms, grubs, frogs, mice and voles. What was at one time a clean and tidy nest box is now littered with pellets thus attesting to the plentiful supply of food. She continues to brood.
Oehoe: The Eagle owl chicks are a male 956 grams (over 100 grams larger than expected) and a female1336 grams (over 100 grams larger than expected).They were sleeping together last night face to face with their beaks touching...cute.
Ooievaar: The chicks have grown a lot. The smallest one (which hatched last) died yesterday. As in previous years, it was consumed by the mother so as to not loose the nutritional value. The blog comments noted that this is expected and not surprising considering the large number of young they have to feed.
Boerenzwaluw: The barn swallows are still "dating" so to speak". No eggs yet.
Boomklever: The nuthatch has a large clutch of eggs but the number is not known as they are buried in nesting material; in this case, leaves. She often is seen digging the eggs up and bringing them to the surface to turn and warm. She is being supplied well with food from her mate. Food supply is a concern at this site due to changes in the forested area nearby.
If you go to these sites, be sure to check out the film clips that are posted beside the webcam view. The webmasters have a good sense of humor and post some funny and interesting clips.
Enjoy!

[birdcamfan]

They hatched between the 23rd and the 28th.

[Kinderchick]

Darn. I was hoping to see some of the storks hatch. Do you know how old the chicks are, bcf? When did they hatch?

[birdcamfan]

An update:
Steenuil: The Stone Owl and the pigeons had a huge fight last night which sent the pigeon flying out the door. Many feathers were lost. It seemed that she'd had enough and set out to attack the pigeon. She seems very happy with herself now, hard incubating her 4 eggs. The film clip of 27/4 shows the violent confrontation. (Warning: it is quite violent)
Oehoe: The 2 Eagle owls are growing very fast and now resemble grey fuzzy cookie monsters strutting about the nest ledge. They were banded this morning and I am sure that their gender and weight will be posted on the site soon.
Ooievaar: The storks have had all 5 eggs hatch. They are still under the mom. When she stands, there is a gaggle of bobbing heads under her. All appears well so far.
Boerenzwaluw: The male barn swallow is easily defending his nest and has started to have an unbanded "girlfriend" visit. He allows her to enter the nest so things look good there.
Boomklever: The nuthatch has been laying eggs all week. The are buried in nesting material so it is not possible to count the number. They lay quite a number of eggs, usually 1 per day.
Slechtvalk: This pair of peregrines (Pa and S2) now have 3 of their 4 eggs hatched. They are tracked on a separate thread.

[birdcamfan]

An update:
Steeniul: The mother stone owl seems to have won the fight for the nest box. Two doves tried to move in but there was a major "stare down", some screeching, a lot of wing beating and the doves are gone now. She has two eggs and is still going out hunting at night so I think she will have one or two more before hard incubation starts. The male has started to bring her food since the doves have left. (Fraidy-cat lets mom do all the fighting!)
Oehoe: The two eagle owl chicks are huge and can now hold their heads up. They are pretty funny looking. It is amazing how they blend into the surrounding landscape.
Ooievaar: The mother stork is inspecting the eggs a lot. They should hatch this week.
Boerenzwaluw: There is a noticeable shortage of barn swallows according to the blog. They are unsure if they are just late or if they met some catastrophe. The male still doesn't have a mate.
Boomklever: The nuthatches have been very busy filling the entrance hole into the nest cavity. They have also transported loads of leaves and sticks into the nest box so it looks like they are preparing for a nest.
Slechkvalken: Pa and S2 are incubating. Their progress is monitored on another thread. S2 is on the eggs now and is playing with pebbles so I guess the boredom factor is setting in.

[Kinderchick]

I see a lonely egg right now, but no sign of Mama Stone Owl.

[birdcamfan]

It seems that the stone owl has persisted and the dove has been evicted from the nest box entrance. The web bloggers looked in the entrance and were surprised to find that the dove had no eggs, just a disorganized jumble of sticks for a nest. The stone owl has now laid her first egg inside the nestbox!

[birdcamfan]

Steenuil: (Stoneowl)
There was fear that the owls would loose interest in nesting at this site because of the dove which has nested in the entrance way to the nest box. The owls have persisted and have been getting in past the dove who flaps aggressively at them. The female is sitting in the nest box right now and has that egg laying look on her body. Perhaps she just had to get in there to lay her eggs. This could get ugly if the owls have a hard time bringing enough food to the brooding female and to the young. They feed on insects and mice and make many many trips to and from the nest box in order to keep up the food supply.
Oehoe: (Eagleowl)
There are two young in the nest and they are more visible now that the female is away for longer periods of time and they are bigger. I saw one of them choke down a huge rat last week. They are able to eat prey that look almost the same size as them and they swallow their prey whole.
Ooievaar: (Storks)
The storks have 5 eggs and continue to brood. Last time they had this many eggs, 3 succumbed and only one chick grew to fledge. Last year there were 2 chicks and they hardly fit in the nest so this should be interesting. The nest is huge but 5 adult sized birds are I think bigger.
Boerenzaluw: (Barn swallow)
The male barn swallow has claimed his nest and is fiercely defending it from other pairs. His mate has not yet shown up but it is still early.
Boomklever: (Nuthatches)
Lots of different birds continue to check out this nest box but no one pair has staked its claim.
Ijsvogel: (Kingfishers)
Still not eggs but they visit the site a lot. There are lots of ducks and swans swimming by the site.
Slechtvalk: (Peregrine Falcon)
Nest watch in found under Noord Brabant 2011 S2 and Pa

[Kinderchick]

I love watching the Oehoe (Eagle Owl). The camera just zoomed up close while I was checking in!