Highlights
Highlights from the FOBBV YouTube Team: ⬇️ 8/2
* The Big Bear Nest Diaries: Golden 🌅 sunlight spilled over mountain peaks and settled softly across the calm waters of Big Bear 🚣 Lake. We observed a Sub-Adult at 5:57 hanging out on the Cactus 🌵snag behind the pine 🌲needles. A Lodgepole Chipmunk 🐿️ visited the nest several times this morning starting at 6:52. A Sub-Adult 🦅 perched on the Cactus snag at 12:39, while doing some preening! This afternoon was quiet at the nest and in the habitat. The Cactus Snag seems to be a popular spot for Sub-adults as we spotted one tonight at 17:35 there too. The nest had a couple nighttime visitors, first a Red-breasted Sapsucker at 18:06, a Western Tanager 🐦 at 18:29 and then at 19:17 a Mountain Chickadee. 🌙 Roost Snug Jackie & Shadow, Luna and Sandy, we love you! ♥️
* Quiet Moments: The calm settles in at night as the sun begins to set 🌇, and paints the sky in many colors. Still we hear the sounds 🎶 of other birds, and critters in the distance. In the quiet stillness, Big Bear Lake feels bittersweet without Jackie and Shadow soaring above the canopy. Gazing up at their empty nest, every gentle rustle in the high pines carries a poignant echo of the majestic pair who brought so much life and heart to the valley. 💗
* Daily Fun Fact: Big Bear Bald Eagle Nest, Located 145 feet high in a Jeffery pine tree🌲within the San Bernardino National Forest. The dark bark of the Jeffrey Pine smells like butterscotch or vanilla. The nest 🪹 is approximately 5.5 feet wide and 6 feet deep, and was built in 2011 by a previous eagle pair, Ricky and Lucy who later built a new nest nearby and in 2016 left the territory. Friends of Big Bear 🐻 Valley installed a solar-powered webcam in 2015 to monitor the nest. Jackie first appeared on camera in the fall of 2016 and started using the nest in 2017. Shadow was once an “intruder” who replaced Jackie’s former mate (Mr.B) in 2018 winning her over through his persistence and nest building skills. The camera uses infrared light at night, which is invisible to eagles. At nearly 7,000 feet, this nest faces extreme conditions such as thin oxygen and heavy ❄️ snow. To ensure the eagles safety, the U.S. Forest Service closes the surrounding area every year from December through July to campers. 🪶
📊 Today’s Tallies:
💠Jackie (J): 0 min in nest ❤️🩹
💠Shadow (S): 0 min in nest 🫶
💠Chicks (C): Sandy and Luna are out exploring the forest 🌲and sleeping off cams after dark! 🌝💫
*only a few events-of-interest are listed