Dutch Birding volume 30 (2008) no 5

Successful breeding of Boreal Owls in Drenthe in 2008

On 23 February 2008, a singing male Boreal Owl Aegolius funereus was found in a forest near Schoonloo, Drenthe, the Netherlands, by a team of birders during an organised search for this species. The bird could be twitched (by ear and sometimes seen briefly in flight) the following nights. After two days, the state forestry agency, Staatsbosbeheer, 'closed' the forest because a breeding attempt was hoped for. On 5 May, a bird was found in a hole made by a Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius. 10 days later this hole was inspected and two nearly full-grown hatchlings and two eggs were found. The birds fledged between 18 and 20 June but were both found predated, presumably by a Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis, on 21 June. A second nest was found on 18 June at 532 m from the first nest. This nest contained three hatchlings, which were ringed on 8 July. These birds fledged between 14 and 19 July. A predated juvenile was found on 19 July, so probably two birds survived the first couple of days after fledging. This constitutes the first successful breeding documented for the Netherlands in 31 years. The first breeding was in 1971, when a freshly dead juvenile was found in Drenthe, which was the first record of this species for the Netherlands as well. The previous records of singing birds (three) were in 1999.

Marnix Jonker, Boslaan 22, 9636 GM Zuidbroek, Nederland
(mjonkerhome.nl)
Gert Ottens, Ganzebloem 14, 3984 CG Odijk, Nederland
(glanskraaihotmail.com)
Peter van Wetter, Brandgans 11, 7827 SG Emmen, Nederland
(p.wetterwxs.nl)