What to Know
- Jackie and Shadow are the beloved Big Bear bald eagles; a nest camera, helmed by the Friends of Big Bear Valley, keeps an eye on their airy adventures
- The first egg of the 2023 season arrived on Jan. 11
- Jackie laid a second egg on the afternoon of Jan. 14; the camera feed was temporarily disrupted due to the snowstorm, so the exact time is unknown
Some serious snowfall can prompt a person to stay indoors with their slippers and robe handy, but if you're an eagle with an egg on the way?
A few flakes can't keep you down.
And Jackie, the beloved bald eagle living near Big Bear Lake, weathered the weather with aplomb on Jan. 14, laying an egg at some point during the cold, wet afternoon.
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We say "at some point" because the dramatic maelstrom caused a feed disruption, meaning that the nest camera, a high-in-the-sky eye that watches all of the exciting eagle action, didn't capture the big moment.
No worries, in the end: When the feed returned, a second egg was in the nest, nestled next to the egg Jackie laid on Jan. 11.
Egg #2 arrived before 5:11 p.m., and if the 2022 season served as a guide, this newest addition may have been laid close to 4 p.m., for Jackie's two eggs arrived almost exactly three days apart last year.
Jackie laid the first egg of the 2023 season just a couple of minutes before 4 p.m. on Jan. 11.
The mountain snowstorm has continued into Sunday, Jan. 15, and Jackie is hunkered down on her two eggs, giving them the warmth of her brood patch as they sit at the center of the fluff-filled nest bowl, a soft area filled with fir needles and natural materials found around the local forest.
Shadow hasn't been by yet to check out egg #2, but the father may show with a fish for Jackie in the hours ahead; as of 10:30 a.m., over 2,800 fans from around the world were keeping an eye on the live feed.
When will these now-famous eggs hatch, if they will hatch?
The incubation period will take around 35 days.
For more information on the Big Bear bald eagles, the two new eggs, and what viewers can expect in the weeks to come, check out the straight-from-the-nest feed, which includes helpful information provided by the Friends of the Big Bear Valley, a nature-protecting nonprofit that seeks to "... maintain the unspoiled beauty and unique environment" of the area's beautiful wilderness.
