Muses on happiness

A couple of weeks ago two Bonelli’s eagle chicks hatched in the Natural Park of El Garraf , near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. Thanks to a webcam in the nest, you can watch the two chicks 24 hours a day. The noise when they see their mother appearing with food is quite incredible and apparently people’s cats who can hear the speakers go wild!! It’s quite fascinating watching how these two chicks are growing stronger and larger day after day. Although I’m told that usually only one of the chicks survives, I’m hopeful that if they’ve both lasted this long they might both make it through to adulthood. They’re starting to teeter around the nest now, so I do hope their mother is keeping a good eye on them, although so far they haven’t gone anywhere near the edge of the rock in which the nest is built.

Bonelli’s eagle Hieraaetus fasciatus), is a vulnerable species, according to the World Conservation Union. It is a bird of prey that needs open spaces to live and feed in. In Catalonia there are 65 pairs, of which 3 live in the Natural Park of El Garraf. The Diputació de Barcelona, The Department of Animal Biology of the University of Barcelona and the Spanish Ministry of the Environment are all involved in the project, with the collaboration of the Rural Agents of the Catalan Government and the company that runs Barcelona Airport (AENA).

At the following website you can:

See the live webcam (webcam en directe), see a selection of recorded videos (filmacions enregistrade), listen to an interview or read more or less what I have written above!!

The Park’s website also has recorded videos of genet (gat mesquer), wild boar (senglar), marten (fagina) and fox (guinea) over to the left of the page, under webcam.

Good for them for doing such a wonderful job at helping to protect and increase the population of endangered species!!