Bird Cams Around the World

This indeed is very sad news. I was counting the days when Madame and Monsieur De Mortel would start a new family.

This is very sad. I only asked the question the other day about if the cam was down, as I couldn't see anything, and now I know why. I did get an email from Ingrid (via the dutch forum) asking for details of all of us who donated to keep the cams going - wasn't sure why at the time, but I leart that there were problems brewing and that we may not see Pa and his formidable mate S2 this year. I was praying that things would work out well for the cam, but came on here tonight to read the bad news.

I think a petition would be bettter if it was started in the Netherlands - so that someone there could direct it to the right places. The Brighton petition worked very well - not sure exactly how it all worked out, other than that I got an email from Brian Smith (who is part of the team that runs the Regency website that hosts the Sussex Heights webcam) saying that the nest box was safe for this year, but not sure what will happen next year. I had emailed him and the Sussex Ornitholigical Society - didn't get a reply from them though. So maybe it was a combined effort from lots of different parties all wanting the same thing. I guess if is a slightly diffferent issue - disturbing an existing nest just coming up to the start of the breeding season, whereas at de Mortal, the nest isn't being disturbed as far as we know, just that the cam won't be running. So, hopefully Pa and S2 and this years brood will be safe, but we will be denied the joy of watching them. Really sad.

Hello all...sorry, its taken me so long to return...

...(and I see I'm a "day late and a dollar short")

Thank you for those well thought out and beautiful words, DEF...you always manage to see that Silver Lining in the proverbial Gray Cloud...I debated as to whether I Should continue with this post, not wanting to diminish the wisdom of your words above...the one good thing, is I can always delete this... so, I have decided to continue...

So here goes.....

She has been very busy since we got the news of the loss of the cams. She received several phone calls yesterday. Part of her pm will address a portion of those phone calls, with a little bit of history mixed in.

It will give you all more insight into all the "players" in this disappointing turn of events...But I digress....

"...But finally I got the idea: he (A) said that there might still be a small chance that we could have live images. But it required some sort of declaration from the parties involved and more specific from the forums, a "peace treaty" so to speak. I told him that I and my forum were not at war with anyone. None of us had ever started trouble, it were others who created these rows and yes, we had pretty tough discussions sometimes, but we always had been able to reach some understanding, consensus and moved on from there. I told him that I never had any problem with his foundation and forum until HE and his COMPANION started to make trouble.".....All that we had to do was to compose a statement, signed and supported by the three forums and all persons involved that we would bury the "war-axes" (is there a better English expression for that, it doesn't "look" right )
I deliberately have not taken part in the discussion, I wanted the people who were not that well informed yet, have their say. They were shocked, sad, angry, and had a lot of questions. At first there was also some criticism regarding the actions of Piet. I expected that and had written to him and Dorine, not to be offended right away, let people blow off some steam. Let this discussion evolve. I had the feeling, don't know why, that it would get better. And it did. People who never write on any forum, now came forward, expressed their feelings and thoughts. And slowly but surely, more and more reactions came. I was in contact with a few people through PM's and emails. These were people I trusted completely and I told them some things about what really had happened.

Took me a lot of hours but finally I had it all written down in a way that I thought was expressing what I felt and thought."

****** had posted on DEF's Forum...and one of her members (Bob) directly asked ****** if he would apologize for a serious incident that had occurred several months ago. ****** response: "that it should not be about individuals but about the common goal of getting the images back on-line. And did not apologise "

DEF goes on to say: " Now it was clear to everybody that he wanted everybody to "bow" down, recognise that he (and his foundation) were a legitimate party in the whole thing. Thát was what he was after, recognition from us. We had to accept him and his foundation, let him in. Ego no doubt."

"To make a long story short: The VWG (BirdWatch Gemert) was manipulated into starting this hostile action. And from the beginning the only goal was to push the foundation out of the picture. A hostile take-over. The negotiations were doomed to fail from the beginning, VWG never wanted a deal, they wanted control over the cams, wanted us out.
It seems that even before our foundation had given their answer to the demands from VWG, last Thursday evening, Beleef de Lente ánd InterNL had already pulled the plug.

The bond between all the people who donated and / or watched these webcams is stronger then ever. That's the only good thing coming from this stupid affair.

The book is closed, no images of P a and S2 this year. Who knows what the future will bring. We'll see. Now we have to decide what to do with the goods and the money that was still in the bank. In Veghel, a town North-West from Gemert, a nest box was recently installed. On top of a animal food silo (?)

http://slechtvalken.forumup.nl/viewtopi%20...%20ken#184362

Maybe we can donate the equipment to the Birdwatch group Uden, who are responsible for it. If the box does attract a couple of PF's and start nesting there, it could be a wonderful alternative."

So that's about it in a nutshell...One of the things we all learned when studying history, was that Nations and peoples explored and went to war for 3 basic reasons....the 3 G's...(remember those?) God, Gold, and Glory...now other than the spiritual experience some of us enjoy while watching God's creatures in all their magnificence, this is not the 2010 equivalent of the Crusades....nor do I believe $$$$$$ is being made off these cams...so that only leaves Glory.....and I'll leave it at that....

Catching up here again .... and I'm sorry but I'm not satisfied. This is idiotic. UGH ... I don't even know what to say.

EDITED POST

I guess I'm just too 'sensitive' of a person .... comes with being a Capricorn. I just can't accept this ... I just can't.

Footnote: God bless Pa and S2... may they have a successful season and help to bring more beautiful Falcons into the world. I will not post on this thread again. ~

I am so bummed about not seeing this pair.
Does anyone know what is happening. remeber there is an extra falcon roaming around there

Hi every one..
First time I log in here.. what a great site!

I'm also a big Mortelfan and read about your ideas for having a petition to get the cams back, but as I understand this is too difficult.
Since yesterday many people from all over the country in Holland are now writing in the electronical version of the Local Newspaper (Eindhovens Dagblad).
Of course it is all in Dutch, but if you feel as frustrated as we do - and I'm sure you do - it is at least possible to also write something inthere. The more we are, the better. Everyone in Holland does understand the english language more or less!
This all must be known by the newspapers. Nobody has wanted this terrible decision.... !
This is the link:

http://www.ed.nl/regio/gemert-bakel-laa ... c#reakties



(when you get the page here above, please scroll down, put your name or any pseudo in the left upperside and than you'll be able to write there under. When ready, push the button under it, same system as everywhere).

Thanks SusanE!
My English is so-so, but nearly practicable in some way...

I'm stonished (edit) Beth!!!
! Cheers!

Well, now this might be something worthwhile. Thanks adriaantje.

adrianntje Birds in flight forming a smile.

You're welcome LJames!
Very happy to see you again here!
Everything alright?


SusanE:
I got my "smiley" from a friend, don't know where its story starts unfortunately...

I just posted something, but it must first be approved before it will be displayed. May not do any good, but I guess it doesn't hurt to try. . .