Congrats to this celebrity bald eagle couple on the birth of their two eaglets!
All eyes have been on this nature cam in Big Bear Lake, California as of late. A camera was set up to monitor a bald eagle nest in the area, and the two birds named Jackie and Shadow have been utilizing it to start a little bald eagle family. Over the past couple of months, they’ve been working (and taking shifts) to keep three eggs safe and sound – and most importantly, warm.
Bald eagles are quite large, measuring up to 40 inches tall and weighing up to 12 pounds. That means they need a sizable nest to call home, and they typically build their nests in an area with a good view of the surrounding landscape, usually in large trees, cliff sides, or other high-elevated rock formations. The one in this video is high up in a tree, and boasts quite the view… when snowfall isn’t limiting visibility.
This remarkable clip of the bald eagle couple captured by the nest camera was from earlier in the year:
If that’s not the perfect example of a mother’s love and dedication, I don’t know what is.
For those that don’t know, it typically takes around 35 days for bald eagle eggs to hatch. The incubation period takes just over a month, and as you can see in the video below, the mother eagle laid the eggs around the end of January. That meant that the bald eagle couple was busy working hard to keep the eggs warm through all of February, and even that didn’t stop them from celebrating Valentine’s Day.
Seriously… Shadow brought his lovely lady an entire fish on February 14. Coincidence? I think not:
“These love birds had a lovely Valentine’s Day! Shadow the bald eagle delivered a big ol’ fish to his sweetheart Jackie on the special day for lovers, as Jackie huddled in the nest to protect their three eggs from the snow. Jackie spent 46 hours on nest duty during the recent cold stretch.”
Fast forward to March, and Jackie and Shadow’s dedication to keeping their eggs safe finally paid off. The cameras captured two of the three eggs hatching late Monday night into early Tuesday morning. All of the anticipation – and the snow storms that the bald eagle couple had to endure – culminated in the special moment that was celebrated by all of the nature lovers that had been keeping a watchful eye on this Big Bear Lake bald eagle couple.
The post below highlighted the birth of the two eaglets, and the first meal that they were treated to:
“Jackie and Shadow are officially proud parents! After days of careful incubation, soft encouragement from Mama Jackie, and patient waiting from Shadow, both eaglets are now snuggled in the nest with a third egg yet to hatch.
This morning, they received their very first meal – fresh fish, brought in by Jackie. She delicately tore tiny bites for the chicks, who eagerly accepted their first taste of life outside the egg.”
There’s still hope that the third egg will hatch sooner rather than later, as Jackie laid it a little bit later than the first two.
You can keep a close watch (one might even say eagle-eyed) on the third egg – and everyone’s favorite bald eagle couple – in the live stream below:
