Скачать или смотреть Steppe Eagle fiasco - Steppearend debacle

Steppe eagle is a very rare vagrant to the Netherlands. After having missed the one of 2020, I thought I would not get another chance again for at least a decade. So when another Steppe eagle showed up in October 2022 in the south of the country (Asten, Groote Peel, NB), I took the 3.5 hour drive but missed seeing the bird. I decided to stay overnight in a nice hotel in Belgium (drinking delicious Trappist beer as a consolation) to try again the next day, which started out with heavy rain. After many hours of waiting the bird finally showed, but only briefly. After a while someone found it sitting on the ground somewhere. It was noted that it had a ring, which could mean a scientific ring or a breeder's ring. After a brisk 20 minute walk I could see the bird up close for myself. The ring was very thin and had no visible inscriptions. Bad news therefore! The bird cannot be counted as a wild one, what a bummer! All this time, effort and money spent for nothing. But such disappointments are also part of the hobby and it is still a spectacular bird to see. No one reported the bird missing, so it may not have been legally owned. We'll probably never know its origin, but for my Dutch list it all does not matter, it simply remains a fiasco...