NEFL Eagles ~ SUB ADULT EAGLE MAKES TWO VISITS TO NEST TREE! GABBY CHASES OFF! 10.6.26

A young eagle (about three years of age) flies into the nest while Gabby & Beau were not home. It checks everything out and then flies up to a branch - we have some amazing closeups of the sub adult and its plumage. It stayed about 22 minutes before flying off. Interestingly, this same sub adult returns to the Hamlet in the late afternoon and this time it is sporting a huge crop! A crop in a bald eagle is an expandable section at the low end of the esophagus where food can be temporarily stored after swallowing, allowing the eagle to ingest more food than it needs immediately. This storage area helps the eagle manage its food intake before it is digested in the stomach. In adult eagles, they can store up to two pounds of food in their crop which can help them through days when food is scarce. So from noon till about 4:45pm when the visitor returned, it hunted or fished and enjoyed a big meal! The sub adult did not stay long - this time Gabby and Beau returned to the nest tree and Gabby wasted no time in chasing it off. There have been five different visitors to the nest since August! This time of year there are many eagles passing through the area as they search for food. Thank you for watching! Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk Courtesy of AEF NEFL Live American Bald Eagle Cam American Eagle Foundation Eagles.org NEFL Cam 1 - Live Bald Eagle Cam Link to Cam:    • NEFL Cam 1 - Live Bald Eagle Cam