3-16-2024 Loud Complaints And Quiet Snow

For the past few days, Jackie and Shadow have been very coordinated in their shift changes—one coming in just as the other is leaving, or only taking a minute after the other’s arrival to get up and turn over nest duty, with minimal argument…
…until yesterday…when Shadow put serious energy into refusing to get off the nest bowl. As soon as Jackie arrived, Shadow started a loud argument. And when Jackie twerpled back, it did not have the softening impact it usually does. Shadow argued longer and louder. So, Jackie got louder, too, but that had no effect. Shadow just sat tight in his place without budging.
So, Jackie circled around to the front of Shadow and started moving in closer and closer. Even as she started nibbling on his head and partially laying on top of him, Shadow held his ground.
In the midst of Jackie’s gentle but insistent intrusion into his space, Shadow let out several whimpering arguments, sounding like he was upset about the unfairness of having to leave. – since snowfall had started, he may have already been detecting that ‘Jackie’s rules’ would be kicking into place and there would be no more chance for him to get back on the nest until it stopped snowing.
When Jackie continued nipping his beak and under his chin, Shadow reluctantly moved. But he apparently wasn’t satisfied with just leaving. Before he took off out the back door, he hung around, rearranging sticks and waiting until Jackie was fully settled, almost as if he might be hoping she would change her mind and give him his rightful nest duty time back.
Shadow was right about Jackie’s rules kicking in. With the snowfall, Jackie spent the rest of the day and night on the nest. She peacefully slept as the quiet of the falling snow wrapped her in a restful blanket.
And during that same time period, Shadow settled on one of his favorite perch trees, calmly watching as the snow, fog and quietude enveloped the area.
Later in the evening, a visitor came into the nest area! After some time on a perch tree, it moved to a tree very close to the nest tree…and then onto the nest tree itself, just below Jackie and Shadow’s nest. According to the color patterns on its feathers his sub-adult bald eagle, was most likely hatched in 2022. On the nest, Jackie was of course aware of this eagle and went on high alert. However, she did not call out a warning to it or call for Shadow to come and help…almost as if she might be familiar with or assume this visitor would not harm the nest. The visitor is the right age to be Spirit. Since Spirit is not tagged, we cannot know whether or not this is the case. But, it is interesting that this eagle felt secure enough to come in so close and that Jackie did not make a big fuss about it being there and Shadow did not come swooping in to chase it away.
As Jackie and Shadow continue with their loving nest duty, we understand that knowing the eggs are past the usual hatching window can sometimes make watching seem harder. It helps to see this as a time to celebrate Jackie and Shadow’s journey and learn from their amazing resilience, strength and ever-strengthening bond with each other.
Thank you all for including Jackie and Shadow in your ongoing journey!
Sandy
...Update on Moon Camp…this nearby parcel, proposed for development is so close to Jackie and Shadow, it can be seen from the nest camera. Any development in that area would greatly impact their nesting site and could make them leave the area. FOBBV won an environmental lawsuit in 2022 against the County’s approval of this project. That put the project on hold, but now the County has released a new partial environmental impact report to move toward another approval. We will, of course, be submitting public comments (due 3/18) on this new, but still inadequate study. And when it comes before the County for another approval, we will be asking all of you for letters or calls to assist in stopping it. In the meantime, we are also pursuing getting this 62-acre parcel purchased for conservation, by the Forest Service, or by anyone else willing to conserve it as open space. If you happen to know any superheroes who might like to step up and buy this parcel to save Jackie and Shadow’s habitat plus more than 17 acres of endangered plants on the property, please contact us at [email protected]. We’d love to talk with you!

Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV) https://friendsofbigbearvalley.org/
Official Facebook Page:   / fobbv  
Official Facebook Group:   / fobbv