On the afternoon of March 1, 2026, The Big Bear eagles incubation routine took a charmingly stubborn turn. The eggs were safe, the forest was quiet, and Shadow was settled low in the nest bowl like he had personally signed a long-term lease. Then Jackie returned, and what should have been a quick shift change turned into a gentle, funny little standstill.
On the morning of February 28, 2026, as the first light crept over Big Bear Lake, something quietly changed in the nest. Jackie had guarded her eggs through the night. The forest was still. The air was cold. Then she lifted her head and began calling into the valley. Her morning vocals were strong and deliberate, echoing across the trees. Shadow answered. Within moments, she rose from the nest bowl and flew toward the Lookout Snag for her sunrise break. And that is when it happened. Shadow flew in to relieve her — and discovered there were now two eggs waiting in the nest.
Jackie has laid her second egg of the 2026 season at the Big Bear Eagle Nest, transforming the mood of the nest in a single sunset moment. Watch the powerful video as she stands to reveal both eggs and Shadow begins nest duty.
Shadow delivered fish and soft nesting fluff to Jackie as she guarded her egg on February 26. Now February 27 falls within the typical three-day window for a second egg — and nest watchers are on alert. Could Jackie lay again today?
After losing her first clutch, Jackie laid the first egg of her second clutch on February 24, 2026, bringing renewed hope to the Big Bear eagle nest.
Die Frage nach einem zweiten Gelege der Big Bear Adler fühlt sich plötzlich sehr real an. Nachdem der Schnee endlich…
Jackie boldly tries to mate on the snowy Big Bear nest, leaning in with vocals and neck nibbles — but Shadow refuses. What happened seconds later could signal a major shift in the season.
On 2-18-2026, a hungry young eagle circled too close to Jackie and Shadow’s snowy nest high above Big Bear Lake. As Shadow guarded a freshly delivered coot in the winter cold, tension rose in the snow-covered branches.
On February 16, 2026, as a powerful winter storm pushed toward Big Bear and the wind began to build, Jackie made a move that instantly changed the mood in the nest. She lowered herself slowly into the bowl, pressing flat and still in a posture eagle watchers know well. Pancaking. The timing could not have felt more dramatic.
For a brief moment, it looked possible. On February 14, 2026, a juvenile eagle circled back over the Big Bear nest tree, and Jackie saw it immediately. Just seconds earlier, she had finished eating a fish. Then she looked up — and everything about her posture changed.