Beloved bald eagle Jackie lays first egg of season in California nest. ‘Amazing moment’
UPDATE: Bald eagle Jackie laid her second egg Sunday, Jan. 28, three days after her first egg was laid, according to the Friends of Big Bear Valley.
The original story is below.
Fans of bald eagles Jackie and Shadow have been eagerly waiting as the two birds started showing lots of “egg-making” signs in their California nest.
And those signs have finally led to “the moment we’ve all been waiting for,” the Friends of Big Bear Valley, a nonprofit, said in a Facebook post.
Jackie laid her first egg of the season just before 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, in Big Bear — and it was caught on camera.
The beloved bald eagles have captivated thousands of viewers over the years as the pair has raised eaglets to fledglings and then lost entire clutches of eggs other years.
But this season, there’s still hope.
Jackie was alone in the nest when she began laboring, the video shows.
As she begins to push the egg out, her feathers stand up, her back hunches and she makes “teakettle sounds,” the nonprofit said.
After one final, long whistle and grunt, an egg plops out and she stands up.
“A closeup of the egg shows its beautiful white oval perfection,” the nonprofit said in the post.
Jackie keeps her back to the egg and peers outward toward Big Bear Lake, the video shows. After a few minutes, she slowly turns around and acknowledges the egg beneath her.
Shadow soars into the nest about 20 minutes later and looks at the egg. Then he flies off, leaving Jackie to incubate their precious egg alone.
“What a wonderful and amazing moment to be a part of and to watch live!” one person commented on Facebook.
It’s possible Jackie might lay a second egg in a few days. Eagles typically lay two to three eggs in a clutch, with the second one coming a few days apart.
Viewers can watch a live feed of the eagles on the Friends of Big Bear Valley’s eagle camera.
Eagles lost two eggs in 2023
Last year, Jackie and Shadow weren’t so lucky. They abandoned their nest with two unhatched eggs, McClatchy News previously reported.
Jackie laid her first egg of 2023 on Jan. 11, then her second one three days later in the middle of a storm.
The two protected the eggs from predators, cold weather and snow. But the eggs never hatched and eventually became a snack for a hungry raven.
The bald eagles have been successful in the past, though. In 2022, one of their two eggs hatched and was named Spirit, according to the nonprofit.
The baby eagle was believed to be a female by the nonprofit and fledged that year.
Big Bear Lake is about 95 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
This story was originally published January 26, 2024 at 9:39 AM with the headline "Beloved bald eagle Jackie lays first egg of season in California nest. ‘Amazing moment’."
