At the beginning of the week we reported that the Koudum sea eagles have two young this year. Albert Draaijer, the one who closely follows the white-tailed eagles at Koudum, hadn’t even been able to take a picture of it yet, but he could clearly see two white heads above the nest edge. Today (April 21) Piet de Vlugt posted a video on YouTube, in which he possibly even saw a third head, with the statement: “Have another half hour this afternoon at the white-tailed eagles in Koudum. In the beginning of the video, two boys are clearly recognizable. Around 1.50 I even see a third head! So I think there are three cubs here (just like in Makkum)!”
There he was still careful, but an hour later he posted a photo on the Facebook page of Zeearenden in the Netherlands, which does indeed show three small heads. Now with the clear text: “Three youngsters with the sea eagles in Koudum”. Albert Draaijer immediately responded: “INCREDIBLE. I had not been able to see this yet, super Piet. It is very unique that Friesland has two nests with three youngsters. It says a lot about the food supply.”
Young white-tailed eagles do not all hatch at the same time, it can take a few days in between. This means that, certainly in the beginning, there can be a considerable difference in size between the young white-tailed eagles in the same nest. The nest at Koudum can only be seen from below from about three hundred meters away. The young white-tailed eagles can only be seen when they are big enough to put their heads above the nest edge. That happened with the smallest today, while Albert Draaijer already saw a first white head above the nest edge on April 8th.
Martijn de Jonge, sea eagle connoisseur and administrator of the Facebook group Zeearenden in the Netherlands, also reacted to the news: “We can safely say that the sea eagle news is becoming more spectacular every day. Two Frisian nests with three youngsters is an absolute record and also a topper at European level.” And he announced more spectacular sea eagle news, namely that 35 to 40 young sea eagles may fly out in the Netherlands this year, an absolute record.
Photo Piet de Vlugt via the Facebook page of Sea eagles in the Netherlands.
2023-04-21 15:34:14
#youngsters #Koudum #sea #eagles
