Record 88 eggs laid on Dutch bird nest webcams

A record 88 eggs were laid this breeding season on the live nest cameras of Beleef de Lente, Vogelbescherming Nederland said on Thursday. The project, which lets viewers watch bird nests across the Netherlands online, followed 13 bird species and also featured a pond camera filming a natural garden pond in Zeeland. Out of all the eggs laid, more than half of the chicks successfully fledged.

About 1 million people watched the nesting birds online this season, down from 1.5 million last year. Vogelbescherming Nederland said it is unclear why viewership declined.

The first eggs of the season were laid by white-tailed eagles in Nationaal Park De Alde Feanen in Friesland, where two healthy chicks fledged.

Tawny owls raised four fledglings. According to Vogelbescherming Nederland, the great tit was the standout species, laying 10 eggs and raising nine healthy chicks.

The project also achieved two firsts. Firstly, it livestreamed the entire breeding season of the Northern wheatear on Texel for the first time. Secondly, the spotted flycatcher appeared on the cameras for the first time — although the nest of this increasingly scarce songbird was unfortunately destroyed by a Eurasian jay.

Several nests suffered setbacks during the season. A tawny owl removed all chicks from a common kestrel nest shortly after filming began to feed its own young, resulting in the shortest webcam record of the season. Ringed plover eggs were taken by a great black-backed gull. In the meantime, a pine marten spent weeks stealing eggs from a Eurasian spoonbill colony.