What to Know
- Jackie and Shadow are the world-famous Big Bear bald eagles
- Jackie laid a third egg on Jan. 31; her first egg of the season arrived on Jan. 25 and the second on Jan. 28
- A camera keeps a constant watch on the eagles' nest, which is high in a Jeffrey pine near Big Bear Lake
If good things do indeed come in threes, then fans of the world-famous Big Bear bald eagles, Jackie and Shadow, had much to cheer about on the final day of January.
That's when a third egg arrived, just after dark, likely surprising those followers who believed that the first two eggs — Jackie laid the first on Jan. 25 and the second on Jan. 28 — were "two and through" for the airy pair.
There was solid reason to believe this; after all, two-egg clutches have become something of a staple of the Big Bear Lake-close nest in recent years.
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Fans will recall that Jackie did lay three eggs in 2021, but the clutch never achieved completion; "a raven destroyed that first egg" soon after it was laid, reveals Friends of the Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit behind the nest camera, and the third egg seemed to have "broken before the laying process was complete."
As of the evening of Jan. 31, 2024, all three eggs are snug in their nest bowl and mother Jackie is tending to her suddenly bigger brood beautifully. This clutch is complete, a feathery first for the sky-high superstar: It's "Jackie's first full 3-egg clutch!" trumpeted the official Facebook page following the birds.
Her wingman Shadow is likely nearby, keeping an eagle eye on the nest as he is known to do; the second camera placed by Friends of Big Bear Valley often spots the doting father-to-be in an adjacent tree.
Eagle eggs take around 35 days to hatch, though the babies of Jackie and Shadow have typically debuted around day 38 or 39 in past years.
So you'll want to keep a keen eye on Feb. 29, or Leap Day, for any signs of a possible pip, which is the first tiny break in the egg a chick makes.
Leap Day is a stirring occasion to greet the world, and while it will be several weeks before an eaglet takes its first real leap, and fledges, the fans of Jackie and Shadow would love to see a baby on that day, or any day.
There is never a guarantee that eaglets will burst forth from a clutch, but watchers worldwide remain filled with hope that babies are ahead.
Spirit, the pair's 2022 baby, became a celebrity for her spirited show of sass and spunk, which was sweet to observe from afar.
