Live Eagle Cam — Big Bear, California

Hedda Gabler

spideyman said:

Congratulations to M15 and F23. Welcome to the world E23! Official Hatch Time for E23 is 7:07:05, E23 was completely out of the shell. It is a bittersweet day for All. Egg 2 was compromised, it did not hatch, the chick did not survive.

Oh no! What happened to egg 2?  Well, baby 1 will get smothered with care. 

Got a super look at fluffy baby. Goofy looking kid. 

spideyman

Hedda Gabler said:

spideyman said:

Congratulations to M15 and F23. Welcome to the world E23! Official Hatch Time for E23 is 7:07:05, E23 was completely out of the shell. It is a bittersweet day for All. Egg 2 was compromised, it did not hatch, the chick did not survive.

Oh no! What happened to egg 2?  Well, baby 1 will get smothered with care. 

Got a super look at fluffy baby. Goofy looking kid. 

This is an unofficial post  stating a possible explanation.  We await an official post.

Going to give my best explanation about the crushed looking egg based on my experience with hatching chicken, turkey, and ducks via incubator. The egg looked like it had a bit of a chip a night or two ago. That allowed for more air to come into the egg sac drying it out and making it difficult for the chick to hatch like normal. Once it dries out inside it makes it more difficult to hatch and can mean the chick gets stuck. The blood we see is from the the internal blood vessels being damaged before it was really ready to hatch. When they pip that begins the process of them breathing air and the internal blood vessels begin closing off and during that time they also absorb the yolk sac into its belly. I see breathing motions and it being still (hopefully resting in between pushes to get out). Not to be negative, but it is really a long shot for it to do OK since it is egg 2 and pretty early to be hatching and the membrane has dried out. I have intervened in these cases and it is about 50/50 survival. 

spideyman

Article  on explanation of egg 2
https://www.elfruler.com/?p=11316&fbclid=IwAR263txQ9uwuTgYIPQLYbPrMLR5uItszvJipLsJei2vjm6v8eHZdSBiccpQ

Hedda Gabler

So interesting. Thank you for the info. 

spideyman

Hedda Gabler

I saw their first attempt at feeding and I was concerned. ❤️ It was a struggle for both mom and babe.  I’m sure they got this down now. 

spideyman

Hedda Gabler said:

I saw their first attempt at feeding and I was concerned. ❤️ It was a struggle for both mom and babe.  I’m sure they got this down now. 

The parent must make sure the chick can hold it's head up and neck straight. The first feedings are usually a learning experience for the chick- known as a bobblehead.  N issues in feeding now.
Fish. red meat and rabbit!!!

spideyman

Big Bear  Jan 1 2024

spideyman

FL- dad defurs the rabbit and E23 observes, learns and gets a nice fluffy bole bed.

Hedda Gabler

Holy mother of God!!!

there is a blood bath in the florida nest. 

spideyman

Hedda Gabler said:

Holy mother of God!!!

there is a blood bath in the florida nest. 

Not sure what you are saying.

M brought a rabbit yesterday, and today brought a cattle bird.   The defuring of the rabbit brought a nice fur lined bole for E23/ and the plucking  of the bird brought feathers.   Both excellent "imprints" for E23.

If you meant the blood on beak and Talons- was from agressive eating on  the part of the adult eagle. 





Baby feet

spideyman

Friends of Big Bear Valley and Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam

11h  · 

Excitement in the new year!

Since New Year’s Eve, when Jackie and Shadow were spotted mating on roost tree2 (hooray!), they have both been bringing sticks and being more interested in making sure the nest is ready…and doing more kissy kissying…and cuddling together on RT2 at night.

The first day of 2024, they started in the morning bringing sticks to the nest. Shadow brought the first one, but Jackie brought 2 more while he was there. They peacefully arranged them, first working together, but mainly each making sure the stick they spotted as out of place got moved to where it really belonged. And, of course, with all that work, some beaky kisses were a necessary part of the operations. Jackie even chortled softly at Shadow at one point…like she does when she’s telling him she’s open to a little more than kisses!

That day brought three more visits…Jackie came next on her own and stayed out on the front porch for half an hour, watching her neighborhood. Shadow arrived soon after she left, so she came back, this time with another stick. They stayed around together for over half an hour. And Jackie came back in the evening for one more visit before they went to roost together.

The next day, they only had one evening visit, but…during that visit, Jackie laid down to try out the nest bowl for several minutes! And Shadow stayed right beside her. They were definitely both looking more like they are getting serious about it being nesting season.

After a few inches of snow arrived early today, Jackie was the first to brave the snowy nest. But this evening, they both came in to pull sticks out from under the snow and make sure everything was still in good order. And then it was off to spend the night snuggled together on Roost Tree #2 again.

We’ll watch Jackie and Shadow in what seems to be an increased interest in nesting season activities to see where they take us. Thank you for joining us in the excitement!

Sandy

Hedda Gabler

spideyman said:

Hedda Gabler said:

Holy mother of God!!!

there is a blood bath in the florida nest. 

Not sure what you are saying.

M brought a rabbit yesterday, and today brought a cattle bird.   The defuring of the rabbit brought a nice fur lined bole for E23/ and the plucking  of the bird brought feathers.   Both excellent "imprints" for E23.

If you meant the blood on beak and Talons- was from agressive eating on  the part of the adult eagle. 





Baby feet

There was the bird, the rabbit, a couple fish — all torn up, feathers and fur and blood staining the bowl. Fish tails here and there. There wasn’t much room for anything else!

and while I was counting carcasses, M flew in with another fish.  They definitely are making sure everyone keeps a full belly. 

Hedda Gabler

Where are mom and dad? This baby has been left unattended for a long time. Or it feels that way. I’m calling child services. 

Hedda Gabler

Well. Somebody remembered they had a kid.  yeah, they brought fast food— like that would make up for it. 

spideyman

It was 70F today at the nest.   It is not unusual for both adults to leave E23  alone, especially if it is warm.  They are within range of the nest and observing E23.

Major weather concern tomorrow as a severe line of storms is due in late afternoon with high winds.

 

spideyman

 E23 will be getting its thermal down in about a week or so and will not need to be brooded as much. As E23 grows, it will also be harder for there to be room under M or F! lol

spideyman

: At what age will they begin to stand up on their legs?
At around 3 ½ to 4 weeks the eaglets are able to get around the nest by ‘walking’ on their tarsus or leg bone (above the ankle) – sometimes called ‘walking on their hocks’. They have neither the muscle nor balance to walk on their feet at that time. When the eaglets are about 6 weeks old they should be able to stand up on their feet. This development indicates increased balance and muscle strength.

spideyman

Friends of Big Bear Valley and Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam

1d  · 

“LOVE is in the Air”…

Jackie arrived at a snowy nest last Thursday carrying a branch with pine needles which is considered the first official fluff delivery of the season. There will soon be more fluff to come to soften the nest bowl as she gets closer to laying her first egg. We are currently on Egg Watch so as we patiently wait for that first egg, we can enjoy seeing the already close bond between Jackie & Shadow becoming stronger.

Both have been visiting the nest daily & are busy bringing in good-sized sticks. The larger sticks are being placed as guardrails around the nest for new eagle kiddos who might be on the way. Jackie has also been “pancaking” on the nest for short periods of time, which simply means laying flat over the nest prior to eggs being laid. She will spend even more time on the nest as the time gets closer to laying. Bonding activity is up as well & they were both seen in flight on cam2 during an aerial chase a few days ago. Pretty cool! After a full day for Jackie on Friday, as she brought in a total of six sticks, she met up with Shadow at Roost Tree2 for a special date night & they were seen & heard mating again.

In other nest activity, a couple of ravens visited last week & one thought burying a pine cone for later & covering it with a couple of sticks was a good idea. The cone eventually ended up back in the center of the nest & the ravens made a quick getaway before Jackie arrived a few minutes later. Also, their nearby neighbor & flying squirrel Fiona stopped by after dark for a quick check for snacks Friday night. Fiona seems to be on vacation or staying hunkered down somewhere so it was nice to see her cute little face again!

Early Saturday afternoon, Jackie came in & did some more pancaking & since the pine cone decor was still there, instead of moving it out of the way, she decided to just lay on it. Not quite as smooth as an egg but it didn't seem to bother her too much! It was pretty windy when Shadow came in & joined her. They moved some sticks together & Jackie said something in Eaglish to him & he responded back. Maybe some love talk! They stood tall, beak to beak & Jackie gave Shadow a sweet love nibble on his beak & head. Then before Jackie headed out, Shadow gave her his usual nibbly love bite on her rear feathers. Oh these two!

Things seem to be progressing nicely for our lovebirds & we can definitely see LOVE is in the air! We look forward to the eggciting days ahead with more bonding activities & fluff deliveries as egg laying gets closer.

Thank you for being here with us & stay tuned for more fun adventures with Jackie & Shadow!

Neesy

spideyman said:

Hedda Gabler said:

I saw their first attempt at feeding and I was concerned. ❤️ It was a struggle for both mom and babe.  I’m sure they got this down now. 

The parent must make sure the chick can hold it's head up and neck straight. The first feedings are usually a learning experience for the chick- known as a bobblehead.  N issues in feeding now.
Fish. red meat and rabbit!!!

Loving these posts Spideyman!

I raised a cockatiel from a tiny chick (Mom and Dad were confused or something as two had already died so I took the last one out and fed it myself - there are books about how to hand raise a bird)

Maybe I'm off on a tangent here but I know what you mean about feeding being a struggle initially.

I loved that little bird - his name was Max and he sat on my shoulder and could whistle a tune - I'd start it and he would finish it.

(It was the Alfred Hitchcock intro theme)

spideyman

Sun Jan 14, 2024 8:08 am

Traumatic morning for E23. F23 was feeding him and something became lodged in his throat.
Mom tried several times to remove it, without any luck. People surmised it may have been a fishing lure/hook.
Cam ops were watching and CROW and FWC were notified, just in case a rescue had to be made. After a couple of hours,
who but M15 came to the rescue! He gave a hard yank, a little chirp came from E23 and the foreign object was removed.
There are no words to describe the heroics performed by M15!

Hedda Gabler

Thank goodness for the save

Neesy

spideyman said:

Sun Jan 14, 2024 8:08 am

Traumatic morning for E23. F23 was feeding him and something became lodged in his throat.
Mom tried several times to remove it, without any luck. People surmised it may have been a fishing lure/hook.
Cam ops were watching and CROW and FWC were notified, just in case a rescue had to be made. After a couple of hours,
who but M15 came to the rescue! He gave a hard yank, a little chirp came from E23 and the foreign object was removed.
There are no words to describe the heroics performed by M15!

What the heck? I hope that is a piece of fish I see (or something similar) and not part of that baby bird's mouth

Neesy

Hey Spideyman - any updates on the baby chick?

Hope all is well where you are these days

spideyman

E23 is now 16 days old and growing fast