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Castor sent in this fascinating Link!!

The Cam is high up and you can see a broad river flowing underneath!
There are already two eggs in the nest!
The cam sound is good - prepare to turn it down



Follow this Link

Be aware that this nest is in Spain - so it is 8hrs before Vancouver (or will be when everyone's clocks go forward)

You too can send in a nest - and have a thread made for it if there is interest!!

The nest is in the Northern Autonomous communities of Spain - Castilla y León
Map

More Info Here

The numbers of Bonelli have suffered a decline in recent years - taking it from the "Of special Interest" Classification - to "Vulnerable"
This decline has been worse in the Castile and Leon area than in the rest of the Iberian Peninsula.
It has suffered a drop of 80% since 1970. But they have passed a 'Plan of Conservation' in 2006.
There are many reasons for this decline - but it is feared that the electrification of the area is the chief culprit!! Made worse by a deterioration in it's habitat - and diseases of it's chief prey - rabbits and hares!

It is all fully explained at the Cam website - but in Spanish!!
If I have it right - the river you can see below is the Duoro - or at least one of the major tributaries!

The Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata) is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. It breeds in southern Europe, Africa both north and south of the Sahara Desert and across southern Asia to Indonesia. It is usually a resident breeder which lays 1-3 eggs in a tree or crag nest.

The Bonelli's Eagle is a species of wooded, often hilly, country with some open areas. The African race prefers savannah, forest edges, cultivation, and scrub, provided there are some large trees; this is not a species of very open or densely forested habitats.


The Head (click for bigger)

This is a small to medium - sized eagle at 55–65 cm in length. The upperparts are dark brown, and the underside is white with dark streaks. The wings are relatively short and rounded. The long tail is grey on top and white below and has a single broad black terminal band. The feet and eyes are yellow.

The Bonelli's Eagle takes a wide range of live prey, all taken alive. It usually hunts from cover by a quick dash from inside a tree, but it will also catch prey by quartering hill slopes like other eagles, or make a stoop from a soaring position. Most prey is taken on the ground.


An Adult Bonelli (click for bigger)

This eagle takes large prey items, usually mammals or birds. Mammals up to the size of a hare are regularly taken, and birds up to guineafowl size. The Bonelli's Eagle is usually silent except in display and near the nest. Its fluted klu-kluklu-kluee call is less shrill than that of its near relatives.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieraaetus_fasciatus

Castor says this is the second year for this cam!!

These eagles stay paired all the year!
You will be pleased to know there is no cainism with these chicks!
The incubation takes 37 - 44 days - more usually 42-43!

This nest is in the Basque country!

Here is a helpful poster!

4:58 pm
she could hear the male in the distance - and got up ready for a changeover!
but he didn't come!


Click for much bigger

5:01 pm
she gave up and settled down on the eggs again - calling for him

5:08 pm
finally he could be heard - she got up and flew off - then he came straight in and settled on the eggs!
He is much smaller than her!

I think it's great that we have a new nest to watch!! AND another new kind of eagle!! Thank you Castor for finding this cam!!! I went to the site and was only able to translate about 1 word out of 10 (high school Spanish was a long time ago!!) I wonder....do we have anybody who speaks Spanish?? We don't have a translator as part of our HWF forum do we?

I can't wait to see this eagle story unfold!!

So many cams, so few eyes... :blink:

Thanks to Castor and Pat for bringing this to us... I think it is so satisfying to know that around the world people are watching and learning and coming to love and respect the wildlife of their region.

Bonelli's Eagles...A few more pics!!







credit to V.J.Vasanthan of India