Big Bear Bald Eagles (2025)

> Am I ready to invest in this again, given previous heartbreak?

I'm choosing to invest some hope here, and if heartbreak comes, at least politics won't have anything to do with it for a change.

No pips yet.

That's 5:00 PM PST. About 45 minutes from now.

They picked a rough week to emerge.

A second egg hatched a few hours after the first.

National Geographic coverage: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/bald-eagle-hatchling-...

(You need to enter your email to read the article.)

Feeding time, and another winter storm on the way.

Brrr. We're looking at a slight warm-up on Saturday and Sunday, but then more winter weather next week.

The third egg is working on hatching this morning.

Three for three, and there's bit of a warm-up heading in over the next few days.

They haven't announced details yet, but people will be able to participate in a naming-the-chicks contest that will likely be held on the FOBBV website.

https://www.friendsofbigbearvalley.org/

Everyone seems to be doing well with more winter weather headed in the next few days.

This is both brutal and amazing to me.

3/14 Recap   

During the first feeding session today only two chicks were visible. We cannot see the entire nest bowl because the view remains partially obstructed by snow. We are observers of nature and do not know the entirety of the current situation. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gx7VP85Gwp1jhHRilStcZMrnUPszHQ0-w1cz...

3/15 Recap   

Sadly, it is possible the remains of the missing chick may have been observed in the nest bowl, on the right side. We are waiting for more clear visuals to confirm and will keep you updated. We know that both the possibility and the uncertainty are hard to hear. We share these feelings with all of you. We have no way of knowing which chick was lost because they were very close in size; they also grow and change very quickly at this stage.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gx7VP85Gwp1jhHRilStcZMrnUPszHQ0-w1cz...

No doubt, Zooey, but the sun's out today and milder weather is on the way next week after another little winter blast on Monday.

It's been a rough few days, no doubt, but there's still a lot to be hopeful for.

One of the ways I've been dealing with the sad news is reminding myself that nobody seems to be mourning the fish or birds they've been feeding on. These are the ways of nature.

The nest watchers reported that on Monday Jackie, the female parent, picked up the remains of the dead chick and flew away with them. They also mentioned that it's very unusual, if not unheard of, for Bald Eagles to do this sort of thing. They usually just let the fish, birds, and small mammals they catch and bring to the nest to feed on decay and become part of the nest. With that in mind, I have to say that I find Jackie's behavior disturbing in a way, but also quite amazing. It's like she knew.

Correction: Jackie flew off with the remains on Sunday.

After careful review of the two chicks still in the nest, it appears they have a large age gap between them, which would mean Chick3 is still in the nest. This is based on:

1) Foot size--eagle chicks show their first growth spurt in their feet and the bigger chick is already starting to show clown feet, but the smaller one is not, 2) Thermal down--the bigger chick has a more advanced dark gray thermal down, than the smaller one.

But since there is a small size difference and the food aggression is lower, it appears that despite being the most well fed and dominant sibling, Chick1 is the one that did not survive the storm.

Since there is no way to know for sure that it is Chick2 and Chick3 in the nest, we will temporarily call them the Bigger Chick (BC) and the Smaller Chick (SC), until the naming contest (to be announced later).

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gx7VP85Gwp1jhHRilStcZMrnUPszHQ0-w1cz...

Yeah, that didn't really make sense to me either, Mark. That whole sentence that starts "But since" doesn't really track for me, which is why I quoted what they said instead of summarizing it.

FOBBV Chick Naming Contest Fundraiser

Deadline: Friday, March 28th at 11:59 PM PDT

https://www.friendsofbigbearvalley.org/fobbv-chick-naming-contest-fundra...

The time to submit chick names has passed! We will announce the winning names on April 1st.

https://www.friendsofbigbearvalley.org/

Kids are getting big.

Another little cold front moving in this week, but then some nicer spring weather coming up next week.

The eaglets have been named. The older, larger one is Sunny, and the younger, smaller one is Gizmo.

The eaglet who passed away has also been given a name posthumously: Misty, after a FOBBV volunteer who passed away recently.