Bald Eagles - Shadow & Jackie
 

A bald eagle born in 2012 named Jackie is trying to hatch her Eggs.
She has spent up to 42 hours straight keeping them warm in the recent snow storms.

https://www.friendsofbigbearvalley.org/eagles/

Super cool. Many years ago, I watched another bald eagle nest cam. I also used to watch the Mt St Helen's cam (mostly just a daily check) when it was active and building a cone in the crater.

Was watching this weekend. Also, the Decorah cam. Wait till they hatch. Unbelievable, how much a little eaglet can eat.

Been watching them everyday since she laid the first egg. Unfortunately it doesn't look like any of the eggs are going to hatch, hope the experts are wrong...

Last year she only laid two eggs, and only one hatched. I watched last year's eaglet grow all the way to fledging. My four and two year old grand daughters started watching with me last year as well, and check on them every day now. You can either watch live, or pick up "highlights". Pretty cool stuff.

This video clip shows them together in the nest ↓

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It occurs to me that I'm rather blessed in this regard. We have a mating pair of Bald Eagles right here in my neighborhood who have been here for over ten years. Yes, in what has now transformed well and truly into "suburbia" in the 35 years we have lived here, 20 miles north of Seattle. Replete with a shopping mall and everything.

Beyond that, this is my favorite time of the year to take my "Bald Eagle ride". Riding south down our Snoqualmie River Valley, I have four nests that I've monitored for well over ten years. They are easy to spot this time of year, with the leaves off of the trees. Granted, that starts in the fall, but what makes this time of the year special is just what we are watching on the nest camera - they are almost always in their nests, or at least one of them while the other is out hunting.

This was almost unheard of when I was a kid in the '60's and '70's. Our raptors, of all kinds, were virtually gone. The comeback they have made in the intervening years has been very gratifying to watch. Not just our eagles, but Red Tailed Hawks, Ospreys, various species of owls, falcons, and more. They are very common sights these days or, in the case of the owls, commonly heard at night. They are in our neighborhood too.

I wish more people would have the opportunity to be around and to observe these birds. I think the sentiment expressed on the Big Bear website is horribly misguided, and frankly just plain wrong.

This nest is in the San Bernardino National Forest land. It has been in active use since the fall of 2013. The surrounding area is closed to the public during nesting season to protect the eagles—bald eagles have been known to abandon nests when disturbed by humans..

That has not been my experience in what now amounts to over 40 years of living around these birds since their fantastic recovery. "Our" eagles, for example, live within a couple hundred yards of a big shopping mall, and even closer to a major freeway interchange (I-5 and I-405). Three of the four nests I monitor are right smack in the middle of active, busy farms growing corn and grazing cattle, with human activity right below the nests every day. Two are literally right off the shoulders of moderately busy rural farm roads, close enough that one might get a little "present" as one rides by. These birds clearly have no trouble whatsoever with human activity.

I think allowing closer contact would instill a greater appreciation for these birds. I know it has for me. Nothing like watching one catch a rabbit right outside one's front window, which I have been lucky enough to do a couple of times. Nothing like having one alight in the top of a tree in the back yard when we are out on the deck, which happens on occasion.

They are amazing birds. I know that they are big, but it really doesn't hit home until you see one close up. A few years ago, I was at my mom's place in FL. There's a lake behind her place that's often full of ducks. We were inside and I noticed something through the window that was swooping down over the lake a couple of times. She was out on the porch and called me. Turns out what I'd seen was a juvenile bald eagle making the last of 3 passes over a duck that was swimming in the lake. Ducks are usually fairly big birds compared to your avg backyard song bird, but the Eagle towered over it and then after a short rest, flew off with the not quite dead duck in its talons.

We had a nest in the side yard our last house. I called them Ron and Nancy. My wife called them screechy and cat killer.
Every year they’d shed enough feathers to make a full Comanche war bonnet. It’s a felony to pick them up though. So I’d just run over it all with the lawn mower.

Thanks, Ted...here's the video embed:

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This has been a record year for bald eagles at Lake Coeur d'Alene in North Idaho.

https://www.krem.com/article/tech/science/environment/record-number-of-eagles-spotted-around-lake-coeur-dalene/293-ad553b92-f93c-413b-98bc-90e083f5241c

Maybe they are just trying to keep people away, or maybe some eagles will abandon a nest. Maybe your eagles are used to people and proximity because that's their normal environment. But maybe if you had an eagle that wasn't used to people and you suddenly had groups of folks very near it would be an issue.

It's certainly not an issue for these folks.

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They are truly magnificent creatures , seeing them in the wild or a zoo it doesn't matter . They are something to watch .

I've now been fortunate enough to have been living in close proximity to these magnificent birds for, like I've said, over 40 years. They are not only in my neighborhood and out in our farmlands, but out in our wilderness, up in our mountains and along our coasts as well.

I've been around these birds in every environment in which they are found. I've been around the most "suburbanized" examples there are, and the "wildest" examples there are, in the most remote parts of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, accessible only by pack string, on foot, or bush plane.

Believe me - they are no more concerned with human activity than your average crow, or robin, or sparrow. Ask anyone in a similar situation that has been lucky enough to have these birds as accessible as they are to me. Most will just chuckle if anyone suggests they might be disturbed by us.

Gotta love Homer - That quaint little drinking village with a fishing problem.

That is much more representative of what Bald Eagles think of us.

I agree. I lived in Alaska for 7 years. We would see them all the time. They aren't freaked out by people.

I kinda think the warning is to keep people from going up there and trying to eff with the nest/eggs You can see the road that runs below the nest. If your familiar with the area, It's not out in the middle of nowhere.

Then my guess is that the authorities are trying to make it sound extra scary to keep the idiots away. The target audience is probably the same idiots that take selfies with bison and bears.

If they didn't make it sound scary, there would be idiots flying drones, climbing trees, etc....

I'm sure you guys are right about authorities' desire to keep the drone flying, tree climbing clowns away. Seems to always be the case, where a few idiots ruin it for everyone else.

With that in mind, I found this rather encouraging. Seems your average drone doesn't have much of a chance against an eagle. I bet trained or not, Shadow and Jackie would have no fear of drones and would not hesitate to take 'em down.

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She's sleeping now.......:)

❓How do you tell Jackie and Shadow apart?
Jackie is larger than Shadow. Jackie’s beak is both longer and thicker from top to bottom than Shadow’s.

❓How old are the eagles?
Jackie is 12, Shadow is 10.

❓How can the eagles handle the cold temperatures, snow and rain?
Bald Eagles are well equipped to handle harsh weather conditions. They have down feathers against their skin that can hold in the heat their bodies generate. On top of the down, they have approximately 7000 waterproof feathers that zip together to keep the wet and cold out and the heat inside.

❓Where do the eagles sleep at night and does the light bother them?
During nesting season, Jackie the female sleeps in the nest, Shadow sleeps perched in a tree nearby in case he is needed. The light at the nest is an infrared light, this light cannot be seen by the eagles or humans. It is only picked up by the camera, which enables us to view the nest at night. In the off season, both eagles sleep perched in trees within their territory.

When one of my Dog's died, a Red tailed hawk landed on my fence and blessed me with some peace. Now I even admire Turkey Vultures, who are the ugliest things in the sky but know how to float for hours without a wing beat.

https://www.indigenouspeople.net/eagle.htm