The amazing "whys, whats, and wonders" of wildlife can sometimes be a mystery to we nature-obsessed humans.
But something that fans of Jackie and Shadow, a pair of majestic birds that boast an ever-growing fandom thanks to a nest-adjacent camera, can pretty much always count on? The duo's eggs arrive just around three days apart, almost exactly to the hour.
Jackie laid her first egg of the 2025 season Jan. 22, with a second egg following almost exactly three days later (well, just short of three days, by about 20 minutes).
But a question that remained in followers' minds, the legions of devotees who keep daily tabs on the feathery Big Bear superstars, was this: Would the celebrated bald eagles welcome a third egg, as they did in 2024?
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The thrilling answer has definitively arrived: There most certainly would be an egg to bring the number in the nest up to three.
Jackie laid egg #3 about 20 minutes ahead of 6 p.m. on Jan. 28, an event that viewers witnessed, as it happened, through the live feed overseen by Friends of Big Bear Valley, a nature-minded nonprofit organization.
With the puffing out of her feathers and a whistling sound reminiscent of a tea kettle — the act is, in fact, dubbed "tea-kettling" by avid eagle watchers — Jackie valiantly added to her growing clutch.
The camera caught a quick peek at the three eggs before Jackie settled back down to provide her eggs warmth in the snowy, lake-close nest.
What's next for the eagles, and their terrific trio of eggs, remains to be seen; the 2024 eggs were not viable, but in 2022 the duo's baby Spirit hatched, grew, and thrived, winning thousands of hearts across the globe with every tentative wing flap and adorable squawk.
If there are to be eaglets and you want to possibly catch the happy hatching, keep a watch on the camera about 35 days after an egg is laid, give or take.
Of course, fans will be eagerly watching Jackie and Shadow and how they diligently care for their eggs over the coming weeks.
Or do we mean "eagle-ly"? In honor of the arrival of egg #3, we think we do.