Jackie & Shadow
Big Bear Bald Eagles Welcome New Eaglets
… Pip Pip, Hooray!!!
Published
FriendsofBigBearValley.org
Another celebrity power couple in Southern California just welcomed new offspring into their flock this week … but you’ll need to check out their webcam to get a closer look!
Jackie and Shadow, a pair of bald eagles living high up in a tree in Big Bear Valley — about two hours east of L.A. — welcomed two new eaglets late Monday night and Tuesday morning, and a camera captured the moment live as two of three eggs finally broke open after weeks of anticipation.
Jackie and Shadow have had eaglets before — in 2019 and 2022 — but they lost a pair of eggs in 2023 to a brutal encounter with ravens, and lost three more in March 2024 when snowy weather buried Jackie and the eggs.
As you can see this time around, Jackie carefully shifts her weight atop one new hatchling, keeping it warm as the newborn stretches and adapts to its new life on camera.
This 145-foot-high nest in the San Bernardino National Forest has real history — originally occupied by Jackie’s parents, Lucy and Ricky, Jackie returned to reclaim the nest to continue her lineage after venturing out on her own.
She was soon seduced by a single male suitor, an eagle named Mr. B — and they had one eaglet together, named Stormy — but their romance was cut short when a new mysterious baldy named Shadow chased off Mr. B in 2018 … and these two have been together ever since.
FEBRUARY 2023
FriendsofBigBearValley.org
Monday also happened to be the third birthday of their first eaglet together, Spirit. But these two newbies don’t have names just yet. And the third is still waiting to pip — the cracking of the egg from the inside, indicating it’s on the way out.
The conservation group Friends of Big Bear Valley set up the camera in the forest to capture special moments for scientific study and to offer the public a fun interaction with nature … without people having to trek out into the snow — especially since eagles tend to abandon their nests when they’re disturbed by humans.
Congrats to the new parents!
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