First sea eagle born in our country. — © rr
Romanian –
Our country’s first white-tailed eagle was born on Thursday. The pair of European sea eagles Betty and Paul that were breeding in the Blankaart have had a young one.
For now there is one chick, another one may hatch in the coming hours or days. “Today I suddenly noticed a change in the feeding behavior of the sea eagles,” says Guido Vandenbroucke, curator of De Blankaart. “They clearly started feeding with their beaks down. You just notice that the nest has come to life. The attitude of the sea eagles on the nest has also changed. They sit much higher, which happens standardly when there is a young one.”
“We now know for sure that there is a chick. There may be a second one very soon. Sea eagles often lay two eggs. We do not go into the nest with a drone ourselves, because we do not want to disturb the birds. So time will tell how many chicks are born.”
Guido in/of Gloria
For the time being you can only see the parents at the nest, but everyone is welcome to go on a maternity visit to the Blankaart. The curator advises you to definitely stay on the paths and to respect the set perimeter of 300 meters. Anyone who enters that perimeter and damages the nest – even with a drone – risks prison sentences of up to 5 years and fines of up to 500,000 euros.
In recent days, Natuurpunt held a vote on possible names for the sea eagles. The audience has chosen Gloria and Guido by a clear majority. Gloria refers to the glorious moment for De Blankaart and Guido is the name of the current curator Guido Vandenbroucke. “That makes me very proud,” says Guido. “This first name also symbolizes the efforts of the many volunteers who helped make this joyful event happen in recent years.”