Big Bear Bald Eagles Jackie and Shadow Welcome First Hermling

The Big Bear Bald Eagles Jackie and Shadow welcomed their first newborn baby.

Thousands of impatient viewers who watched the Eagles nest since the first Pip showed during the weekend were able to watch one of their newborns emerging with glimpse of tiny feathers and a beak appearing just before 11:30 p.m. on Monday.

The friends of Big Bear Valley announced that newborns could be imminent on Sunday after the first Pip appeared. The group operates a 24 -hour webcam which monitors the Eagles nest at 145 feet in a Jeffrey pine overlooking Lake Big Bear.

Picoting is when a baby bird uses its beak to open its shell, and a PIP watch is the vigil online and Hoopla surrounding this activity.

“Tears of joy !!!” replied a person on Facebook after the first crack arose on Sunday.

In 2023, the eggs of Jackie and Shadow were eaten by the crows. And last winter also had sorrow. The pair added a third rare egg to their clutch at the end of January, but the cold was serious. At one point, a storm kept Jackie on her nest for 62 hours in a row, sometimes completely covered with snow.

The low levels of high altitude oxygen are one of the reasons why the Friends of Big Bear Valley group suspects that the three Jackie eggs did not succeed that year. Cold and snowy winters and rainfall also decrease the chances of survival of young Aiglets.

White -headed pygargue eggs generally have 50 to 50 chances of hatching, according to Sandy Steers, biologist and executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley. Once hatched, less than 50% of Aiglets survive their first year, according to American Eagle Foundation.