Forest ranger Erik de Jonge can’t believe his luck. A pair of white-tailed eagles in the Markiezaat nature reserve near Bergen op Zoom has young. For weeks he watched the birds of prey as they set out to build a nest. And now he has spotted two baby bald eagles. “This is every forest ranger’s dream. A crown on your work”, says Erik enthusiastically.
Erik had been hoping for this for five years. But all previous breeding attempts failed. Three years ago, the eggs were eaten by a pine marten. Last year, the female was killed by the blades of a windmill. “When I started I said that within ten years there would be sea eagles breeding and expanding. That has now become reality. I am very happy.”
“Thanks to the drone, we saw that there are two young on the nest.”
Last summer, the male hooked up with a new female. “All winter they have been busy looking for a nesting place. In March they started building a nest like crazy,” says Erik, who kept a close eye on them through his binoculars all the while. Not long after, the female began brooding.
Because Erik has to keep a distance, it was difficult for him to see whether youngsters were actually hatched. But thanks to the help of a drone company, he has now really seen it. “That drone has a camera that can zoom in enormously. And with that we have seen that there are two youngsters on the nest, three weeks old”, says Erik proudly. “Maybe three, but we’re not sure yet.”
“I’m holding my breath for the windmills on the west side.”
Sea eagles are rare animals. They need a lot of rest and food and there are few places in our country where that is. In 2016, a white-tailed eagle couple was spotted for the first time in the Markiezaat area. Erik thinks it’s fantastic that there are more now. “This is a forest ranger’s biggest dream. It’s such a spectacular beast. A real crown on your work.”
The Dutch Sea Eagle Working Group will soon investigate the boy. They then get a colored ring around their leg, so that they can be recognized. And they are regularly tested for bird flu. “I’m holding my breath for the windmills on the west side,” says Erik. “Hopefully they stay far away from that. But there is an awful lot of food in the Markiezaat. So if they stay in the area, chances are they will survive.”
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