This spring Latvian Fund for Nature installed webacm at two Lesser spotted eagle nests. That will allow to follow very closely the life of Lesser spotted eagles and their habits, breeding success, feeding and lifestyle. That will allow to better understand why it is is so important not to disturb the bird during nesting. Last year a country wide nest inventory was commenced and the results of the first year show that around 10% of nests are affected by forestry.
One of the webcams is located in Zemgale. The nest is know to experts since 2017 when one young bird was observed in this nest. It is built in a birch tree around 20 meters above ground. The material of the nest tells that it is at least five years old as the lower parts have already partly disintegrated. On 21 April this nest was visited by the first bird who started to set up the nest. Couple days later another bird was observed there. Lesser spotted eagles usually return to Latvia at the beginning of April and if a pair is formed the first eggs can be expected in a month.
The other nest that is also located in Zemgale was found in July 2017. Last summer one young bird was observed there but the nesting was not sucessful and the young eagle died shortly before leaving the nest. The construction of the nest shows that is has been used by Lesser spotted eagles already for some time. It is interesting that the nest is located very low in a spruce – that means it has not been disturbed for a very long time. It is built on a thick spruce branch and is pressed against the neighbouring tree – an aspen. Although it’s location is low in the tree it is not easy to see the nest from the ground. The nest tree is located around 50 meters from a field.
