Bird Cams Around the World

A short update on the little owl, Beleefdelente.

After that first happy moments that daddy owl was back things went wrong, and worse.
On the 2nd of June the mama owl was ringed (since she was new at the location) and the chick was just weighed. Because of the absence of daddy and the shortage of food during those few days the week before the baby weighed only 28.5 grams, instead of the average of 67 grams (that's what I understood from what was written). But the chick seemed healthy though.

Unfortunately, after two days the chick showed problems with the left leg. It is not known what exactly is wrong. Maybe it is dislocated, or broken, or maybe the chick has so-called spread legs (a congenital defect, or a defect caused by vitamin deficiency, or too slippery ground in the nesting area). The chick holds the left leg straight between forward and sidewards. This situation hasn't improved yet. Mama owl feeds the chick reasonably well and even catches some prey herself because daddy is not very consistent with prey supply. And Mama owl seems clumsy with her child, a little rough. It is possibly her very first child.

I do not need to explain that viewers of Beleefdelente.nl have had heated discussions about whether or not to intervene. Policy of those responsible for decisions is to not intervene. But they are not heartless. Today it was declared that in the unfortunate case that the chick can't leave the nestbox, what it is supposed to do in about three weeks, they will euthanize this little one. It will not need to suffer starvation and it won't have to spend its live in a cage.
We deeply hope for a miracle and that the leg will recover as the chick gaines power.

today...







Mwplay, I saw your post after I made this text. Watching this cam is not easy this year.
Maybe the other owl is near, I don't know, but it could be that daddy is still afraid and that could be the explanation for the irregular foodsupply

I agree it has been hard watching this year. Between the owls and the peregrines - not much fun.

I was looking at the cam last night and noticed little one's leg not looking good at all (I say last night because I'm in California and so many hours behind). I watched on of the videos where it is very clear the leg is being held straight. It almost doesn't appear to have a talon.

I can tell from the blog and some of the forum posts that it is a very heated subject. It must be very difficult, especially after all that has gone on so far with this nest.

Very sad indeed.

Thank you for posting the update. I wasn't aware they had made the decision to euthanize if he did not leave the nest. As much as I hate for that to happen, it would be worse for him to make it out and starve.

For those who (used to) read here about the Little Owl-webcam of Beleef de Lente and wish to know the reasons of non-intervention as stated in the blog posts written by the people of

STONE (= Dutch Platform for the Protection of the Little Owl)

check my translations of the most relevant blog posts here:

Note:
You might have seen loads of posts, questions and answers, the gist of which is that criticism of non-intervention is usually fiercely attacked by certain BDL-forum members (who probably painfully have decided to agree with non-intervention and vent their uneasiness in that way - too sad).

Discussion arose a.o. about why wild birds should be offered food in winter, whether that wasn't contradictory with the position of STONE. From the answers, it became clear that the position of STONE is that wild birds shouldn't be fed in winter - nature should run its course.
However, VBN (= Dutch Society for the Protection of Birds) on their site still encourage to install bird feeders.
Discussion also arose about whether or not banding/ringing and supplying nestboxes is "intervention". It isn't seen as such (see one of the translated blog posts in the link).
Also, one forummember noted a discrepancy in the wording on the VBN site ref. what to do with wounded wild birds one comes across. It appeared the wording was subsequently changed so as to better reflect the position of "non-intervention", meaning: wounded birds found in the wild where the cause is natural, should be left to their own. However, traffic victims and victims of other "human" causes (cats, fishing lines) should be brought to a bird rehab centre or similar.

Note:
similar discussion arose over at the Stork webcam, where a Stork was attacked by an adult Stork, then attacked by its siblings, weakened and died.

My own experiences:
when a (hollow) tree housing a Little Owl nest broke off (natural cause: wind) and the 10-day-old chicks just rambled about in the meadow and got surrounded by curious sheep, of course we installed a place in another tree for them. When once my brother found a very weakened Bittern (natural cause: unusually severe winter), of course we brought him to a rehab to be cared for. When once I found a shivering bat that had prematurely dropped out of its wintersleep (reason unknown), I didn't let it where it was (it would have been trampled by pedestrians).
To me personally it comes down to: once you know and witness, you have a responsability. True, maybe the chick has to be put down - but donot let it stumble around justified by the hollow phrase " it would have happened if we didnot watch".

Just checked the Little Owl cam on Beleef de Lente. Sadly, the little one passed away in the nest on 6/25. Poor baby. I knew either way, it would be the final outcome for this little one. But it is still sad.

Bosuil~thanks so much for sharing the info and your personal experiences. . To be honest, I have stopped watching the Beleef de Lente Little Owl cam for the reason that this has happened before and I couldn't stand to watch it the first time. I can certainly appreciate the decision not to intervene (as so many agencies choose to do.), I just don't agree with it. To adopt the philosophy to "allow nature to take its course" is unethical when you have the means to help and have world wide viewership. Nature is "taking its course" in hundreds of non-cam nests all over the world. I would think those sacrifices/deaths would be enough. Granted, humans cannot help/intervene with every nest, but to knowingly allow a preventable death to occur, in front of thousands, just burns me up. The only control I have over any situation like this (other than the mountains of emails I have sent in the past) is just not to watch. I am sure my decision will not affect Beleef de Lente in the least but I choose not to passively participate in this philosophy. .

Rest in peace, little one. .

Thanks Beth. Here's the little guy the day I picked him up from a couple that found he/she in their back yard. The rehabber hydrated for a couple of days--and fed LOTS of mice---and then I tranported to WCV. He's grown huh!!! (He/she is in a childs size 3 shoe box)

Thank you JR! Great news.

river

WOW I never had such a nice welcome! Thank you Kitten Face, and it is SO nice to be here and see you again.

river

Potted plant owl

http://potplantowl.blogspot.nl/
http://www.africam.com/wildlife/potted_plant_owl_webcam

Potted Plant Owl, Johannesburg
Today I saw the following picture:

The eggs were laid on September 2 & 5.