Return of the Eurasian Eagle Owl to the Netherlands and Germany.
I thought you guys may like to know a bit about this. Most stories about the current state of nature are quite depressing, but this one is quite the opposite!
The Eurasian Eagle Owl was once abundant throughout western Europe, but after centuries of hunting they were gone from many countries. After they went basically extinct in Germany in the 1960s the Germans set up a conservasion program which lasted from the 1970s to the 1990s. Because of this there are now 2900 to 3300 Eurasian Eagle Owls in Germany.
In the Netherlands the owls had also completely disappeared, but soon the German owls started crossing the border. In 1997 the first Eagle Owl was spotted. Some years later, they were breeding and now there are possibly more than 100 individuals in the country, with no signs of the growth slowing down.
In one spot where they have been breeding for 13 years, an organisation has installed cameras to invade their privacy and for us to enjoy. There are 4 owlets right now, which is quite a lot, because the average amount of eggs laid by this species is 2.9. Recently the owlets have been ringed (which is were the photo comes from) and they are growing really big already.
That is the story basically. I am Dutch, so this all is very exciting (side note: if someone from Germany has another good article about this, please let me know!). Also, the Owls were once native to for example the UK, so I am hoping that we will see more good reintroduction news in the future!