April 5 (UPI) — The two famed eagles of Big Bear Lake — Jackie and Shadow — welcomed two babies to their nest during the last 48 hours, one year after another eaglet froze to death during a blizzard.
The second of the two chicks finally broke free from its egg at 8:30 a.m. cam time, nearly 12 hours after the first chick escaped its egg after roughly 36 hours of work cracking the shell, the Friends of Big Bear announced on Instagram.
“Both chicks are doing well, looking great and their journey has just begun,” FOBB said in the post.
The organization has for several years run live streaming Big Bear Valley Eagle Cam of the two bald eagles and captured the duo in both happy and sad times.
Jackie and Shadow are pictured keeping an eye on their eggs in the nest. Photo by Friends of Big Bear/Instagram
The two eggs were laid over the course of four days in late January and noticed on the Livestream at the beginning of the eagles mating season.
Chick 1 was getting its first successful feeding when chick 2 emerged from its shell, FOBB said.
“Initial feedings are often challenging as the chicks do not have much muscle strength in their nexts,” FOBB said.
“At this stage, they are often called bobbleheads!” the organization said. “The chicks are fed small bits of fish or other prey. … The parents’ salive [also] is full of electrolytes and antibodies which gives the little ones a good start.”
The two eaglets likely will be named in a two-part fundraising contest that FOBB has used previously: A fundraiser to nominate and contest names, and then employing a group of local third-graders to vote on the final names of the chicks.
Jackie and Shadow last year successfully hatched three eaglets that emerged from their eggs just as a severe snow storm dropped two feet of snow in the area.
As the snow melted, the chicks could be seen again but one of the three died as a result of the nasty weather. The other two, according to FOBB, survived.
