The video opens with a series of scaps I took of Beau arriving to the nest & burying the egg. Timestamps are provided below for more highlights.

Gabby was off the egg and Beau was waiting on the wallenda branch and decided to come down to the nest. He looks at the egg and begins to aerate the moss all around it. Beau touched the egg with his beak and continued his digging around it and pulled up some wet moss. As he was pulling up the moss, the egg slid down into the nest and was out of our view (this is seen very clearly from cam 2 at 11:59. Beau continues to pull up the moss we get a brief glimpse of the egg at 12:39 then it is buried underneath all the nesting material. Beau looked down at the spot where the egg used to be for some time before he left the nest. I included cam 1 and cam 2 in full coverage.

Why did Beau bury the egg? Beau was doing what he always does dig and aerate the nest. While he was aerating and pulling up the moss the egg accidentally slid down into a little pocket beneath the moss. As Beau continued to pull & aerate, the egg became completely covered up. It does not appear that Beau did this intentionally, it could have been an accident. There is so much moss on the nest that it is easy for that to happen.

What does this mean? The egg is covered and insulated right now by the nesting material and Gabby lying on top of it which should be enough warmth. The concern is the egg must be rolled every few hours to prevent the yolk from sticking to the shell and to help keep airflow & temperature within the egg even. There is still hope that either Beau or Gabby will be able to pull the moss up and free the egg either tonight or in morning. Remember, that eagles do not have human emotions or thought patterns, they act completely in the moment with their instincts in order to survive and procreate. I do not think Beau even realized what he did with the egg it was there one moment and gone the next. But Gabby knows it is underneath her and her instincts will be to protect the egg and hopefully will dig it up.

We are privileged to be able to watch this live eagle nest and witness a young first time male mating and trying to become a parent. There are a lot of unknowns and it is best to try and stick with the facts and not assumptions about what is going on and to try not to anthropomorphize (humanizing) a bald eagles action and life comparing them to human emotions. We are not in control of what goes on at the nest Gabby & Beau are. Right now the best advice I can give to all of us is.....relax, don't presume anything, don't rely on a youtube chat for your answers and watch and learn how the eagles handle these situations. I can assure you no one knows how this will turn out not even the so called eagle experts! We are observers only and this is nature's story in real time. ♥♥ Thank you for watching & listening! ♥

To see the highlights below, please click on the timestamps to advance to that portion of the video.

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Opening Photo stills of Beau burying the egg
01:10 Cam 1 view of Beau coming to nest & burying egg
04:16 egg slides under moss cam 1 view
08:04 Cam 2 coverage of Beau burying egg
11:28 Beau pulling up moss
11:59 Egg slides under moss deeper into nest
12:39 Egg seen briefly before Beau covers it up
12:50 Beau really pulling up wet moss
14:30 Beau looking down at nest

Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk

Courtesy of AEF NEFL American Eagle Foundation Eagles.org