This footage captures Bella and Smitty defending their nest and family when an intruder gets too close to the nest. Dad delivers a fish and it appears the intruder followed him to the nest. When Dad lands on the nest he is already in defensive mode; Mom who appeared to be in the tree quickly drops down into the nest and together they both defend their nest. The fish is massive and Hope is snuggled up to it watching the adults and tracking the intruder in the air. Bella and Smitty are highly agitated and both calling out sharply and trill alerting the intruder to leave the area; after a few minutes Bella and Smitty both exit the nest at the same time likely to give chase to the intruder. The intruder may be a 3rd year immature eagle that visited the nest yesterday. Later Bella returns to the nest and feeds Hope ... so the threat has left the area ... at least for now. Good Job Mom and Dad! To watch the NCTC Bald Eagle Cam live click on this link
About the NCTC Bald Eagle Nest!
The NCTC Bald Eagle nest is located 75 miles from Washington, D.C. on the campus of The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services' National Conservation Training Center (NCTC). The campus is located at Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The nest territory is prime real estate as it is about 1/4 mile from the Potomac River.
Warmest thanks to the National Conservation Training Center, USFWS, the Outdoor Channel and Friends of the NCTC for providing and maintaining this bald eagle cam; we appreciate the opportunity to watch this eagle family from the comfort of our own homes!
Many thanks to the dedicated citizen scientists aka eagleholics that watch and document observations on this eagle family. These dedicated volunteers share their observations, screen captures and video footage on Bald Eagles 101 on Facebook. If you would like to follow this eagle family's journey please join us at Bald Eagles 101.
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