Jackie and Shadow’s three bald eagle eggs in Big Bear Valley aren’t likely to hatch again this year, disappointing tens of thousands of people that’ve been keeping a close eye on a livestream for any signs of new life in the nest.
Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that manages the cameras, told LAist the couple’s quiet caretaking can teach us a few things about ourselves.
“They just show us how to live life, and live it from a place of peace and patience and compassion for what happens, and still being who they are and doing what they do without having to change everything to fit an agenda, whether it's yours or someone else's,” said Sandy Steers, the executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley.
Although it can be emotional and disappointing to have weeks of waiting end up empty handed, Jackie and Shadow continue to move forward and do their bald eagle best, and right now, Steers said they’re still calmly focused on protecting the nest.
“We want everything to be in our control, we want to know what's going to happen, we want guarantees — and nature is just the opposite, there are no guarantees,” she said. “Everything happens as it happens, and it teaches us to slow down, and to watch, and to know that maybe our life is OK if it's not happening exactly the way we want it.”
In the meantime, there’s been no confirmed pips — pip being the term for when an eaglet starts emerging. All three have passed the typical pip timeline.
There’s really no way of knowing why they haven’t hatched. Friends of Big Bear Valley said on social media it could be environmental, such as the oxygen levels at high altitude, humidity percentages, and temperature.
Steers said there’s also a chance the eggs were never fertilized or something stopped their development early on, just like last year.
“The only way you can tell what happens with eggs is to do an autopsy on them afterwards, and they're 145 feet up in a tree, so that's not likely,” she said.
Fans are hoping for a miracle now, but Jackie and Shadow could get another shot at parenthood sooner than later.
Steers said they’ve laid more than one clutch a year, so we could see even more eggs pop up on the livestream.
