The Big Bear Valley Bald Eagles
By Terri Estes
I have been watching this live webcam of Jackie and Shadow, the bald eagles of Big Bear Valley in the San Bernardino National Forest in California. Jackie has been sitting on three eggs and yesterday, little holes could be seen in two of the eggs. These tiny holes are called pips, and they indicate that the chick is beginning to chip away inside the egg and emerge into the world. This morning, as I watched, Shadow brought Jackie a fish for breakfast, and a little while later she began feeding two little fluff balls that had hatched overnight!
Historically, bald eagles only wintered in Big Bear Valley in order to find food sources of fish and fowl in the colder months when the lakes further north would freeze. In 2012, a pair of bald eagles took up full time residence and the first recorded bald eagle chick was hatched and successfully fledged in Big Bear Valley. That eagle is Jackie!
In 2017, Jackie and a mate took over an abandoned nest that had two cameras installed in it. In 2018, Shadow replaced her first mate. As of February 2024, Jackie and Shadow have laid over 24 eggs together. Five of those eggs have hatched and three have fledged into adulthood. Already, in 2025, two out of three of her eggs have hatched. The eggs were laid three days apart, so there is still a good chance that the third will hatch.
You can watch Jackie and Shadow live 24 hours a day. Just google “Big Bear Valley Bald Eagles.” But, if you don’t feel like watching these amazing eagles raise their family, just ask me about them. I’ll be watching!
