Live Eagle Cam — Big Bear, California

Hedda Gabler

And lord! More snow for the california eagles. 

spideyman

For Hedda

spideyman

E23 explores

spideyman

Big Bear March 15th

spideyman

Mar 16, 11:57 AM

Megster (Admin): We have a fledge! 10:51:27 E23 accidentally fledged, went to West pasture, perched in a pine out front, 11:20:19 landed on W pasture front snag, 11:28:48 flew from front W pasture snag to attic. Landed on attic at 11:29. Congratulations E23!

spideyman

1051:26 E23 has an accidental fledge.
E23 leaves upper branch to land on the upper perch and misses landing.
E23 tried to hold on upside down but lets go,
then spreads wings and floats down toward the ground.







1051:42 E23 flies low going west along the fence line.

1103 Cam op returns. E23 must be in a front pine in west pasture

1120 E23 flies from pine to a snag along the driveway.

11:28:48 flew from front W pasture snag to attic. Landed on attic at 11:29. Congratulations E23!

Hedda Gabler

You could tell yesterday is was just wanting to go

spideyman

Here is the video



Congratulations E23 on fledging!! From the SWFEC banner: "We have a fledge! 10:51:27 E23 accidentally fledged, went to West pasture, perched in a pine out front, 11:20:19 landed on W pasture front snag, 11:28:48 flew from front W pasture snag to attic. Landed on attic at 11:29am. Congratulations E23!" E23 had flown to the upper branches of the nest while F23 was perched on the attic. E23 was attempting to land on a lower branch but missed it and floated down towards the ground but then E23 was able to flap those wings and flew to the west pasture! E23 remained there for a half hour before making its way to a snag tree in the front pasture closer to the nest. E23 was eyeing returning home seeing Mom on the attic branch and then took off with a perfect return flight and lands hard on the attic with a squee almost crashing into Mom! E23 then started to squee and puff up at Mom and she took off! E23 remained on the attic catching its breath after this exhilarating flight & then dropped down to the nest to lay down and rest! Footage includes cam 1, pond cam and multiple views from the 360! Congratulations to our fledgling! E23 was not the earliest fledge - that still belongs to E9 at 73 days. But E23 has tied E15 for the next earliest fledge at 76 days. This is a great milestone and accomplishment for E23 to hit today! E23 is a strong eaglet and proved that once again with a successful fledge and return to the nest (all in 38 minutes too) The whole world is opening up for E23 right now and we all are celebrating this great achievement! 🐦 Thank you for watching! To see the highlights below, please click on the timestamps to advance to that portion of the video. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Opening Pond Cam E23 in upper branches 00:23 E23 dropped to lower branch, misses landing & floats downward, then flies to the west pasture- Accidental fledge! 00:50 pond cam Zoom 01:15 pond cam - Slomo of E23's fledge 02:06 E23 seen flying to snag in front pasture - pond cam 03:52 Cam 1 - E23 flying to snag front pasture 05:05 E23 flies off snag to attic! cam 1 05:29 E23 flies off snag to return to attic pond cam 05:55 360 multiple views of E23 returning to attic 06:26 E23 almost crashes into F23 on the return to attic 06:39 Slo-mo of E23's return to the attic 08:30 Cam 1 pans & finds E already on the attic 09:35 Closeups of E23 - panting 12:23 E23 returns to nest and lies down ♥ Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk

spideyman

Owl Strikes E23


Video opens with a view of the owl flying to a front snag from the W. The owl leaves the snag and strike E23, knocking E23 off the attic branch. The owl appears to fly S, and E23 flies low to the right. E23 attempts to land in a front pine, misses, and lands on the ground. The owl flew S, difficult to see, but as E23 flies to the right to try to land in the pine, the owl is right behind, appearing to fly S. The owl must have landed in or close to the pine, as it is seen swooping down to the ground and back. Twenty-five minutes later, an owl flies up to the hubcap tree. After several minutes, it flies down toward the pond, then an owl flies up toward the office oak. Thirty-one minutes later, E23 flies from the area by the driveway Pritchett sign to a front snag. Later in the morning, an owl flies from the left (E) to a front pine near the snag where E23 was perched. The owl leaves the snag and appears to swoop E23, who flaps wings in defense. The owl leaves the snag a second time; however, the cam was too zoomed in to see the interaction. ➡️ E23 appears to be fine this morning. CamOps had E23 in view by 0724 on Cam1. Time stamps below, if interested. Click on any time stamp to advance to that part.




UPDATE March 17th 2024 ~ This morning we could see that E23 in a snag tree close to the nest. At 08:56 E23 flew to the church side snag! Amazing to see E23 flying just fine after such a scary evening! E23 made it back to the nest at 09:27:28. Indeed E23 is a true warrior eagle and has just proved how much determination and courage it has! UPDATE: E23 HAS BEEN SPOTTED IN A TREE AND APPEARS TO BE FINE. ♥♥ You can see E23 flap and stretch its wings out at 02:17:14 on the livestream Pond Cam. Please do not go to the nest and spook E23. This is a critical time for the young fledgling after just getting hit by an owl. E23 will make it back to the nest tree in the morning. At 00:52:05, a Great Horned Owl struck E23 from the front & knocked E23 backwards off the attic branch. E23 went down and the owl landed on the other nest tree branch and watched E23 falling and went after in the same direction. From the pond cam, we can see E23 falling and going down but was able to fly to the west (right) very low. It appeared that E23 landed in a tree and missed the branch and went down to the ground close to the road. A few seconds later it looks like E23 tried flying again. At 00:52:57 it looks like possibly the owl went in that same vicinity, crossing the road and then back to the tree. This is all we know at this time. I have notified SWFEC and they will be taking the appropriate measures to locate and make sure E23 is okay. Please do not go to the nest and possibly cause E23 to be even more spooked. I will update everyone as soon as I know something. Prayers for E23 to be okay and not be injured by this owl strike. As soon as it is light out, our local crew will at the nest to look for E23. Thank you for watching! Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk

Hedda Gabler

Okay spidey, i’m counting on you because I am a big baby and can’t risk seeing something horrific. Where were mom and dad eagle? I thought they perched close by to keep an eye out. The owl will be bold, it will come again. 

spideyman

E23 is ok, thankful. Made it back to the nest tree. Mom and Dad were close, but this is part of "learning".  we all tend to think as the humans we are. F23 and M15 know their eaglet needs to learn confidence by being by theirself at times. It is very difficult to accept, but it is nature.  

Many seasons ago, E8 broke its femur( was sent to CROW, recovered and returned to nest) in such an incident, thus ground people were notified when this happened early this morning. Just in case.

It is hard to watch the strike, but E23 survived.  Many posted that the owls are "mean". One of the naturalist posted: "Owls do not strike out of "meanness". Like eagles, most of what they do is innate behavior or hormone driven. They are driven to protect their juvie owls. Doing what they are hard wired to do. Nothing in nature is out of meanness, only survival. Meanness is a human behavior."

Humans are more dangerous to eagles than the owls. 

Hedda Gabler

Thank you. I hear all that and admit my human-ness. I know nature is nature, but man! I can’t help wanting perfect little happy safe lives. 

spideyman

Fledgling E23 had a peaceful night.




Look at those beautiful patterns on the under sides of the wings and tail!  E23 is going to be a spectacular sight when it starts soaring.

Hedda Gabler

Pretty boy/girl?

spideyman

Hedda Gabler said:

Pretty boy/girl?

Blood test/DNA only way to tell is M/F unless it lays eggs= F
Females are generally larger than the male.

Hedda Gabler

It appears california eagles giving up the eggs. Shadow and Jackie are gone. 

Nope.  She came back. Dang. 

spideyman

Friends of Big Bear Valley and Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam

1d  · 

Mating and weathering the storms…

Shadow's chortles sounded a bit distant when Jackie called him early Sunday morning before sunrise. She responded with her loud calls then carefully backed out of the nest bowl which was surrounded by snow that fell the night before. Jackie left for her break just before Shadow arrived on the front porch. She got the last word in as Shadow was busy settling down on the eggs.

Just a bit later, Shadow had some urgent business to attend to as he left the nest quickly three times in an hour and a half, returning after a few minutes each time. He definitely seemed to be on alert and monitoring something out in the eagle habitat.

The lake looked like glass and the fresh snow that clung to the trees was pure & beautiful. After their shift change, Jackie stayed in the nest for the next three hours or so. A raven decided to land in the canopy above her and she quietly watched it fly to the high perch, then boldly down to the front porch. She flinched once and was ready to defend if need be, but the raven wisely did not test Jackie and decided to fly off.

By early afternoon, the sun had melted the snow on their tree but a ring of white still remained around the nest bowl. The morning bird choir including the Mountain Chickadee, the Red-tailed Hawk, and all the other feathered friends who joined in, was beautiful to listen to on the wide view cam2.

On the next shift change as Jackie flew in, both eagles were on alert and they vocally shooed off a few ravens who were flying above the tree. Defending the nest and also the eggs, because they are still actively incubating, is always a high priority for this pair.

Later that afternoon, when Jackie came in for the next shift change, whatever it was she said to Shadow, he got up right away off the eggs and tried to leave out the front porch. Jackie didn't move and stood in his path but he managed to squeeze by her as best he could to get out and start on his mission.

An hour later, just after Jackie had rolled the eggs, her loud, clear squeal alarm went off as she saw Shadow returning with her fish. She seems to really enjoy his fish gifts even when they are headless! Of course she talks the whole time she's eating but she did briefly interrupt her meal to look up and watch her love as he flew off.

After her snack, she did some light housekeeping and redecorating before bedtime. She struggled a bit with a few quirky sticks that will now have a new place in the nest. As the snow was melting and the day was coming to a close, she looked like she was waiting for Shadow but he may have already been roosting for the night and most likely she would see him in the morning.

Sure enough the next morning, Jackie awakened to Shadow's distant chortles. Perhaps he was warning her of something near the nest tree because Jackie shouted her response back to him at the top of her lungs! A few minutes later something seemed to be nearby and she twisted her neck around with her head upside down and beak to the sky to follow it. It turned out to not be much of a threat so Jackie instead took in the lovely pink sunrise over the lake.

Jackie may have needed a quick potty break when she left briefly but returned within the minute. When the strong winds blew Shadow in a couple of hours later, he also brought in some new dried fluff.

When Jackie left for her break, Shadow got busy incubating and moving the new fluff while also keeping close watch in the skies around him. He definitely saw something and he said something, chortling as loud as he could until it was gone. When Jackie returned, he resisted again but got up and retreated to the front porch anyway.

At lunchtime, some dark clouds rolled in and it began to rain. Jackie came to the back porch ready to take over. Shadow squealed his usual ‘no’ and held his place. Jackie decided to move in literally by stepping lightly on his wing feathers a few times. Shadow didn't like it one bit letting her know with more high pitched squeals. One last step, but with all her weight this time, did the trick! Shadow huffed off and as he jumped forward his tail went up in her face… surely not on purpose! Jackie twerpled something about ‘the weather and you know the routine’.

It was surely a busy day and not over quite yet. In the late afternoon, Shadow brought a whole fish in and since Jackie left just before he arrived, he happily had that entire fish all to himself! After his meal, the sun came out and he had a nice rest before Jackie called him over and he met her on the Lookout Snag tree for a little late afternoon rendezvous. It wasn't too much of a secret though, as they did let it be known by their mating vocals what was going on! They perched together for a minute before Shadow returned to the nest.

Jackie stayed on the lookout tree for another half hour or so before going to the nest for the night. She found a couple nibbles of leftover fish, softly twerpled to Shadow and since he didn't want to get stepped on again, he got up immediately and Jackie watched him fly off.

Jackie and Shadow continue to be resilient and weather all the storms of life they face. Some are small, some large. Several times a day, they follow their instincts, make many choices, act and react in many different situations.

As we all observe them daily, knowing we have no control over nature or what may come until it is revealed, they continue to show to us their strength, perseverance

and love from their beautiful forest home.

BKind22

spideyman

E23 and M15


E23 and F23

spideyman

E23 discovers the pond

spideyman

GHO visit the nest


Video opens with the two juvenile Great Horned Owls ("juvie" for this video description) arriving on the DSPS. There was an owl strike on E23 late last night, link here: https://youtu.be/Ow9wYhS2cHs?si=7z8Wj.... The purposes of the strike on E23 by the owl is to get E23 (any eagle) to leave the area/territory. Only the adult owls do strikes; juvies do not have or need territory, are not of breeding age, and have nothing to defend. The adult owls are protective of their little family, and strikes are likely to continue, unless the owl family moves further into the territory. The juvies will stay with the adults in the territory until the start of courting season for the adults, Sept./Oct. Juvies will practice hunting, and the adults will suppement them with food, less as time goes on, as the juvies become more successful at hunting. Eagles and owls have always shared territory, just as all other birds here share territory. They do exclude their own. An adult GHOW arrives on the outer branch of the nest tree. We hear only the hoots of the male in this video, so this is likely the male owl arriving at the nest tree. The "screeches" are begging calls by the juvies. Begging calls are used to get the adults to bring food, and to let the adults/each other know where they are. The two juvies fly to the nest tree for exploration. This is not a takeover attempt; that is early season behavior of adult owls. After arriving, the first juvie on the nest will "bill clack". When the second juvie arrives, that one will also bill clack. Bill clacking is done for several reasons; in this case, it is likely due to at least one adult perched above. The juvie may have thought there was food, since there was an adult. While the juvies are exploring the nest, the adult on the upper attic leaves. One juvies pulls at the nesting material, then tries to drag it. While this is part of exploring, this behavior is also part of mock hunt and carry practice. Juvies will pounce on things in the nest, and practice carrying/dragging them. While in the nest, the owlets allopreen (preen one another). Mama owls allopreen often, and the juvies (owlets in the nest) commonly/often allopreen. Both juvies flies to a church tree, and one flies out. Later, an adult flies in to the hubcap tree, and one juvie returns to the nest tree. Video has captions and chapters. Time stamps below, if interested. Click on any time stamp to advance to that part.

Hedda Gabler

Son of a bitch. 

Can these friggin eagles in big bear just have a string of beautiful warm days? It’s turning into a Donner Party hell scape. 

It’s way past these eggs hatching and if they miraculously did hatch, they would be little ice cubes. 

spideyman

Friends of Big Bear Valley and Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam

1d  · 

Amazing love and bonding continues…

Thursday morning began with our beautiful Jackie in the nest enjoying another golden sunrise. Soon after, Shadow rounded the bend carrying a stick in his talons, turned into the path of the nest and nearly landed on Jackie. Despite a near collision, it was a smooth exchange and on his first shift, our handsome Shadow posed for a few amazing close up photos. He did leave the nest a few times, possibly to take care of some eagle business which left the eggs exposed for about sixteen minutes.

Jackie came in with some fluff about an hour later and while she was relaxing, Shadow returned with a fresh pine branch with clumps of green needles attached. He landed very close to her and for a moment she disappeared behind some of the greenery. He then placed the branch on her back, picked it up and whooshed it by her head again. On a fierce mission to place this stick, he finally did so on the front porch. Jackie was relieved that the task was finished as she got up quickly and left quite abruptly.

In the early afternoon, while Jackie was in the nest, she got up and flew off which left the eggs alone for about an hour. She also seemed quite restless as she incubated overnight Thursday. The evening before, she allowed Shadow the night shift, but then surprisingly returned at 2am to take over. These situations of taking longer breaks may become even more prevalent as time passes and both eagles may leave the eggs at times. These incidents are quite common and could be the first signs of withdrawing from incubating.

Later the next afternoon,

Shadow arrived on the high perch with the strong winds blowing. He had a bit of a time on that branch at first but he used his wings for balance and his talons to lock him down while the winds blew his tail and body up and down. He jumped down to the nest as Jackie was now up and preparing to leave for her break. She carefully made her way to the back porch also using her wings to balance. She gave us a beautiful close up view before heading out. Shadow watched her and then settled down on the eggs.

About an hour later, Jackie returned with some dried reeds, likely in preparation for the storm on the way. It took Shadow a minute as he likes to stay as long as he can to get up off the eggs. Jackie waited patiently as Shadow moved to the front porch and flew off.

Wind and rain came with a new Pacific storm overnight and once again the resilience of these eagles is being shown by their remaining on the eggs as long as they need to and despite the elements. Jackie awoke Saturday morning partially covered

in snow and surrounded by its pure beauty. She stretched her wings and shook the snow off her back, rolled the eggs and aerated the bowl before settling back down. Her wings were slightly spread over the bowl as she pancaked, laying as flat as possible to cover the eggs well.

The wind blew through the nest tree and it swayed a bit but the tree is strong and has sustained winds of 40 mph in the past and wind gusts of up to 80 mph. Both Jackie and Shadow have shown such amazing love for their eggs and never giving up through the harshest of storms, proving their patience and resilience over and over. They adapt well and are used to cold and snow, more so than the heat or warmer weather. The El Nino weather has made this season interesting, however winter storms are generally not unusual for this time of year. This area has had snow as late as May so it's actually quite common based on the 7000 foot elevation of the nest.

Despite what eventually may happen with the eggs, Jackie and Shadow continue to bond by bringing in sticks and adding to their nest. Shadow shows his love for Jackie by bringing her fish, defending their home and remaining by her side. They remain steadfast and it seems nothing will move them… and that's why we love them so!

BKind22

spideyman

This is another first for E23 to fly into the nest bringing back two different food items in its talons! Earlier in the day, E23 flew in with a rabbit pelt and now brings in an ACF armored catfish. It is highly unlikely that E23 caught this fish as it takes a high level of skill and practice in order to catch a fish. Since F23 was following E back to the nest, it was either her fish that E23 stole, or M15 brought a fish for F23 and then E23 stole it. It doesn't really matter who caught the fish - it was amazing to see E23 flying from across the street carrying the ACF in its talons! Check off another milestone!

When E23 lands the fish seems to get stuck on the side rails. F23 landed in the treetop. E23 pulls the fish back into the nest and starts to eat it. F23 will drop down to the nest and she tries to take the fish but E23 protected it. So F23 took the rabbit pelt - E23 is still squeeing and goes to Mom to gets a few bites. E23 tries to pull the rabbit pelt from Mom and they have a tug o rabbit moment! F23 drops the pelt and goes around E23 and grabs the ACF and flies off with it to the office oak. E23 is shocked Mom took its fish and flies after her - landing in the office oak as well. We see E eating in the tree! Great job E23 on carrying two prey items back to the nest! We may see E23 actually catch a small fish. bird or small mammal before it leaves on its journey!!

E23  13 weeks  March 31

spideyman

Friends of Big Bear Valley and Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam

22h  · 

Nature will prevail…

Thursday evening around dusk, we had some lovely and calm views from the wide view camera. It was just beautiful at dusk however another storm was on the way by the next morning.

Early Friday, just before daylight, snow began to fall and within an hour enough fell to cover Jackie. She didn't seem bothered by it but rose up out of the nest, stretched her legs and wings before moving to the front porch to fly off. It was 7:00 a.m. and our stalwart Shadow came in right after she left, ready and waiting to take over the nest and egg duty.

As it turns out, Jackie's hormones may be indicating that incubating the eggs is no longer necessary and therefore she is withdrawing more and more. She stayed away all day, which left Shadow on the nest for just about 11.5 hours. He spent most of the day observing their territory, taking little snoozes and posing for photos for his fans. He only took one three minute break to do a quick fly-around in the early afternoon and then was right back on the nest.

Toward the end of the day, a sub-adult bald eagle, likely a 2022 hatch, flew by the nest tree and Shadow had his eye on it tracking its every move. Not too much later, Jackie returned and startled Shadow while he was relaxing and preparing to also take on the night shift. He got up and chortled something loudly on the front porch while Jackie twerpled a quiet response. Shadow flew off for the night and Jackie surprisingly did take the night shift.

Saturday started out fairly quiet in the morning hours with the afternoon and evening being quite a bit more eventful. Jackie was up and out early so Shadow enjoyed another beautiful sunrise on the nest and also caught a glimpse of a pretty little Northern Flicker as it passed through the nest tree over him. A sub-adult bald eagle also perched briefly on the Stick Depot Snag tree but it left abruptly when Jackie's vocals and presence were made known.

Both Jackie and Shadow had a busy afternoon going in and out of the nest like a tag team. They brought two sticks each and Jackie also hauled in a big pile of fluff. They both spent time going back and forth between the nest tree and all their other favorite perch trees throughout the afternoon. After all the business at hand was finished, they met on the Lookout Snag for a little mating rendezvous and spent a few minutes relaxing there together afterward. All these signs of daily activity, including mating, shows us their bond remains strong.

Then they went right back to work again, staying busy right up until nightfall. Jackie got up at 7:30 p.m. and left the nest and Shadow may have thought once again he might get the night shift. Not so fast! The startled look on his face and the loud chortles when Jackie appeared may have shown his disappointment and probably questioned if he will ever truly get the night shift privilege. His protest caused Jackie to move in and step on him lightly so he would get up and that did indeed do the trick.

Jackie started her overnight shift on the nest with her head tucked in her wing but she seemed to have a restless night and woke up several times. She called out to Shadow twice and was looking around like maybe she wanted to leave. She moved to the front porch where she used her talons to lock onto a branch and she perched there until dawn on Sunday. She did some grooming on her feathers and looked more comfortable there as she tucked her head back in her wing once again. This morning she left the nest tree early. Shadow came in right away and stayed on the nest for 20 minutes before leaving when he heard Jackie's calling. He is currently back in the nest as of 8:00 am Sunday morning.

Jackie and Shadow's story has been quite amazing and of course we have no way of knowing what will happen from moment to moment. We do know they have shown us that no matter what obstacles they may face, they always seem to strive to overcome and move forward. Thank you all for continuing to follow their journey!

spideyman

E23 at 14 weeks