Watch Out! Flying Doors in the air

In the Nature Reserve, Oostvaarders Plassen, which is to the north of Amsterdam, a couple of Sea, or White Tailed Eagles, started breeding in the reserve in 2006. Across the world, the parents and the offspring were followed via webcam, hosted by the Woodland Trust.

In summer 2007 I was introduced to a pair of breeding Peregrine Falcons, Pa and Ma, in Holland, I was asked to translate for a UK forum, where we kept a diary of their chick's progress. Their nestbox was on top of the KPN radio tower in the small village De Mortel,North Brabant, a province in the south of Holland. (the other part of the province-South Brabant-is in Flanders, the Dutch speaking part of Belgium).

The

When In Holland in 2007, friends, Nettie and Nora had a few ideas for us, and apart from returning to my childhood's forest and village on my birthday. So, as fellow birdlovers, we dropped Francis off at a nearby air traffic musuem, while we went down to the Oostvaarders Plassen, for a drive through the reserve, along the west coast of the Zuid Flovoland polder. While we truly enjoyed the many Buzzards, sitting along the road, and the sight of Cormorants overhead and along the coast, among the many birds we saw that day, I had hoped for a glimpse of the young Sea Eagle, or one of the parents. Apart from a camera crew standing on a scaffold like set up in a parking bay next to the road, there was no sign of the Eagles. The crew were waiting for the same birds, only we didn't have their patience.

This summer I will be glued to several webcams again, so to speak, plus following the live action again around here.

The National Trust, wants to let the site naturalise even further. Grazing is done by wild Koninck Horses from eastern Europe, to keep forestation in control, so that the area remains a wetland of marshes, necessary for the local wildlife.

As in the UK, talk of re-introducing Wolves and Wild Boar among other species, are high on the agenda again. I'm not sure, but I do think that beavers have been introduced some time ago.


Last year, it was the first time that two Eagle chicks had hatched.

Flying Doors is a very Dutch name for the White tail or Sea Eagles, something like cigars, a name for a flying Cormorant, I guess.
(and no, it has nothing to do with The Flying Dutchman)