Community Chat

[Tinkrbl44]

@shoekitty   @Tinkrbl44   @SoCal Bred   @spumoni99   @Jk9   @walker    @Pink123   @LIG1  @candys mine

2025-12-11

Shadow Works, Jackie Flirts

That is unfair, Jackie works just as hard bringing in sticks and placing them where she sees fit. But she does get flirty with Shadow every chance she gets and who wouldn’t, Shadow does seem to be the perfect mate! Shadow often comes in behind her and adjusts those sticks to his liking.

Tuesday the eagles came in for a quick check on the nest before roosting. They brought a couple of sticks, Shadow worked on the nest and Jackie… bumped him, rubbed on him and nibbled on his beak before she headed out for the night.

In December Shadow seems to be all work and no play, after all it is a big task to get the nursery ready!

Thursday, we found them snuggled together, they must have been discussing plans for the day as they both showed up to the nest within minutes of leaving the roost tree, before the sun even crested over the mountain!

They both brought in stick after stick totaling 21 sticks in less than 2 hours and that was just the morning! Sound on at 7:18:18, you can hear Jackie’s wing beats, she had to circle the nest twice to get the lift to bring that stick into the nest.

Shadow brought in 12 sticks and Jackie brought in 11 for the day, not that we are counting… well, yes we are!

Apparently after 21 sticks Jackie & Shadow took a well-deserved break. During their break, while watching one of the adults perching, we saw a glimpse of a juvenile bald eagle making a quick getaway from the same tree! The adult watched and followed the young one as it flew out of the area. We have no way of knowing who the juvenile was or where it came from.

Jackie and Shadow returned to the nest to deliver a couple more sticks in the afternoon, for 23 sticks in all. Jackie was able to get in some more bonding time. In addition to bumping, rubbing and beak nibbles, nest building is also part of their bonding process.

When will the eggs come? January is the most common month Jackie lays eggs, though egg laying can be any time from January through April for this region.

The increase in daylight hours (photoperiod) is what triggers Jackie’s hormones which lead to her fertility.

The daylight hours will be increasing starting around December 22nd.

GW

[shoekitty]

@Tinkrbl44  I love the updates!!  I read everyone. Interesting. I can't wait for the eggs.  Three or four this time. !  I guess 2 is usual, but we need spares!  I wonder how 4 eaglets would do in that nest though?   Yikes. 

[Tinkrbl44]

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@shoekitty wrote:

@Tinkrbl44  I love the updates!!  I read everyone. Interesting. I can't wait for the eggs.  Three or four this time. !  I guess 2 is usual, but we need spares!  I wonder how 4 eaglets would do in that nest though?   Yikes. 

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@shoekitty 

Can you imagine Shadow flying back and forth with fishies for FOUR little mouths?    LOL   

[Mz iMac]

@Tinkrbl44   @shoekitty 

I can only vouch for the Pennsylvania eagles.......

If all 3 or 4 baby eagles make it to fledging, the weaker of the 3 or 4 gets knocked out of the nest by its siblings.  The Pa nest is only large enough to house 2 fledgings.  Three is a very tight fit w/everyone bumping into each other.

The ones I've witnessed somehow survived the fall.  I suspect the branches breaks the fall.  

The park rangers DO NOT INTERFERE.  They let nature take its course. 

2 years ago, one of the park rangers placed a stationary camera at the bottom of the nest tree where a fledging fell out the nest.

The tree was near water.  The fledging stayed on a log that was partly in the water.  It was where his/her parents fed her...on the log.

For about a week or 2 you would see the fledging on the log wing flapping as if trying to fly.  The park ranger reported fledgings need height to properly fly away.

The park ranger finally advised the fledging finally made it to a very low branch.  After about 2 weeks of being grounded it flew over the river then back to the log to be fed by its parents.

[shoekitty]

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@Mz iMac wrote:

@Tinkrbl44   @shoekitty 

I can only vouch for the Pennsylvania eagles.......

If all 3 or 4 baby eagles make it to fledging, the weaker of the 3 or 4 gets knocked out of the nest by its siblings.  The Pa nest is only large enough to house 2 fledgings.  Three is a very tight fit w/everyone bumping into each other.

The ones I've witnessed somehow survived the fall.  I suspect the branches breaks the fall.  

The park rangers DO NOT INTERFERE.  They let nature take its course. 

2 years ago, one of the park rangers placed a stationary camera at the bottom of the nest tree where a fledging fell out the nest.

The tree was near water.  The fledging stayed on a log that was partly in the water.  It was where his/her parents fed her...on the log.

For about a week or 2 you would see the fledging on the log wing flapping as if trying to fly.  The park ranger reported fledgings need height to properly fly away.

The park ranger finally advised the fledging finally made it to a very low branch.  After about 2 weeks of being grounded it flew over the river then back to the log to be fed by its parents.

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@Mz iMac  they don't interfere here either. Sometimes in Rae cases you wish they could.  I know I have taken stranded baby birds. To wild life center here. This is after I waited for a day for parents. I have fed water with dropper, that's it though.  The wildlife raises them, as wild as possible then release to area found. I know the WERC in Morgan Hill was noted all over the country for raising Bob cat kitten in a Bob cat suit, they put odor and all.  It was released when ready. It was amazing, it hadn't been done at a wild life center before.  You can look it up.  Interesting

[Mz iMac]

@shoekitty  If you have the stomach for it, watch the Peregrine falcons live cams.  They nest between March-April.

In Philly, they all nest on high rise building ledges 20+ floors up.  Just about every Center City tall building have falcon nests.

The nests are all man made by employees, window washers and/or building owners.  I think the window washers clean them out once every baby fledges.  They nest on pebbles, sawdust or feathers from their own bodies.  Really weird.

Those falcons are the sky serial killers of the city.  They feed their babies pigeons (their favorite), sparrows, squirrels, kittens, rats, mice.  Most times the "meals" are still squirming.  

Then as the falcon babies get curious, they go to the edge & start running up & down edges. 

They only get to have ONE fledge flight.  Some don't make it.  They DO NOT return to the nests.  On their first flight, the parents teach them how to hunt.  After that, they are on their own.

I worked in Center City for over 30 yrs & have never seen a dead fledging Peregrine falcon.  Nor have I've seen feral kittens.

[Tinkrbl44]

@shoekitty   @Tinkrbl44   @SoCal Bred   @spumoni99   @Jk9   @walker    @Pink123   @LIG1  @candys mine

2025-12-13

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!

Apparently, Shadow took the morning off on Thursday and Jackie felt the need to bring one lone stick to the nest and do a quick check to make sure all was well. She perched for a bit up on the “Y” branch to take a closer look around the neighborhood and do some grooming before leaving.

She returned later in the evening and Shadow joined her shortly after. She was up on the “Y” branch again when he noisily crashed through the back porch hauling a whopper of a branch in his talons. Jackie started making her way down to take a look or perhaps help Shadow place it as a protective guardrail.

However, Shadow seemed to give her “the eye” as if to say… “hold on, I'm working on it”. He was also kind of blocking her way into the nest, so she turned around and headed back up the “Y” branch to wait for the final placement of that great stick he hauled in.

It's pretty obvious that our dear Jackie is quite the nest supervisor! Keeping an eye on Shadow's every move, when he found just the right place for it on the front porch and the coast was clear, she headed back down and hopped next to Shadow to check out his fine work. A couple of minor adjustments here and there by the chief nest inspector, Lumber Jackie, was all that was needed!

They both left to gather up two more sticks to make a total of five for the day and Jackie snapped some twigs off them while Shadow observed. They stood together in what appears to be the place they chose to form the nest bowl as they worked moving smaller sticks.

As always, these two are such a harmonious pair as they work perfectly together. Teamwork really does make the dream work! As Jackie attempted to tidy up a few more sticks, and after some playful wing bumping, they shared a few sweet beaky kiss moments, mostly initiated by Shadow nibbling on Jackie's feathers and beak.

Before they headed out to the Roost Tree for the night, they both made their way to the back porch branch for some amazing close-up photos.

As they perched on the Roost Tree together, their beautiful evening duet echoed through the forest as they settled in for a restful night.

BKind22

[Tinkrbl44]

@shoekitty   @Tinkrbl44   @SoCal Bred   @spumoni99   @Jk9   @walker    @Pink123   @LIG1  @candys mine

2025-12-14

Crib Rails, Pancakes and Dining In.

Friday was another busy day for Jackie & Shadow. In the morning Jackie brought in a defiant wonky stick that no matter what she tried, it just kept popping back up over and over.

She also found a perfect crib rail, and it didn’t take long for her to find the perfect spot for it. Shadow didn’t seem to agree with that and moved it to his perfect spot. A bit of a disagreement ensued, a bit of tug-o-stick and they eventually compromised and moved on… for now.

The big news, Jackie pancaked for the first time this season! This is when Jackie lays down flat to test the nest and uses her feet to clear out a space where the eggs will eventually be laid.

She definitely had a stick or two flying with that kick. Seems Shadow might think there is more nest work to do. Whether intentional or not, he put a stop to that quickly. 13 sticks were delivered in all.

They both took some time to relax and enjoy the beautiful view they have, giving us time to enjoy their beauty at the same time. Later in the afternoon, Jackie decided to dine at the nest, bringing in a mammal, this is also a first for the new season.

Bald eagles do prefer fish but will not pass up an easy meal. Maybe she was staring at it, wishing it was a fish! After her meal, Jackie was seen feaking her beak. Feaking is rubbing their beak on a rough surface, it serves to clean their beak after a meal and to maintain beak health and sharpness.

Saturday was mostly quiet; Jackie & Shadow delivered a few sticks but spent most of their time out in the habitat. Jackie did take an opportunity to nibble on Shadows wing, maybe to get him to move, or more likely to get her some more beaky kisses!

Stop by and check out the new website! It has been ten years since the first nest cam was installed and the livestream began, so we wanted to spruce up the website a bit.

New pages and sections for everyone to enjoy and learn about Jackie and Shadow, Big Bear Valley and FOBBV. We will regularly add content and information so bookmark and remember to check back.    GW

[LIG1]

It looks like there's an overnight guest in the nest tree. 

[candys mine]

@LIG1 What the Heck?  Is that a Parrot of some kind?  Fingers crossed it's an early riser and out before the homeowners get back in the morning!