Live webcams of owl nests to return on Sunday during Beleef de Lente

The cameras from birdwatch project Beleef de Lente will go live again on Sunday. Footage from cameras at the nests of tawny owls, barn owls, and little owls will be viewable online, as will a webcam near a sea eagle nest.

Dutch bird protection organization Vogelbescherming Bird will add more bird nesting and breeding activities videos in the coming weeks. A total of 13 bird species will be featured this year, according to the organization.

Beleef de Lente is a popular project from Vogelbescherming. Over a million people watch the footage of birds' nests every year. Images can be seen from the first breeding and nesting activities in early spring until the last young birds have fledged, around the end of July. About 100 volunteers from Vogelbescherming manage the webcams and write blogs about the bird experiences.

The young owls are the audience favorites every year. According to Vogelbescherming, the tawny owl that is being tracked has laid two eggs and will possibly lay another on Wednesday. The barn owl and the little owls are also expected to lay eggs. The sea eagles return to their old nest every year, turning it into a gigantic structure.

Vogelbescherming says that the cameras will also be on the roof of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam if the peregrine falcons start nesting there again. The mother bird ate her own eggs last year but then started another clutch. However, those eggs did not hatch either, probably because many other birds tried to occupy the peregrine falcon's nest box.

Vogelbescherming does not announce where the nests with the webcams are precisely, as they do not want people to go looking for them. Birds need rest during the breeding season, and it is already overcrowded in various nature areas where people also let dogs run free. The organization is also pleading for more bird breeding spaces in the living environments, as even the sparrow is struggling.