The Eagles Are Coming

I've been watching the pair of eagles at Big Bear in California lay their eggs. And now two have hatched!

You can join the 75K others who are watching here, if you'd like.

Last year I watched them diligently, checking in several times a day. And then the eggs did not hatch. That was sad. The birds kept trying to incubate for well past the 35+ day period for a eagle egg to hatch. The female eagle, Jackie, gave up first. Her mate, Shadow, hung out a little longer trying to get the eggs to hatch.

When the eggs finally broke open, it was obvious the eggs had not been fertilized and there were no chicks to hatch.

This year, I only checked in once a day or so, though I read all the updates on Facebook. It is better reading than politics; I can tell you that!

Now the eggs have hatched and there are two little fuzzy fluff balls in the nest, currently under the male eagle's brood patch as I type this. That's skin that develops during the incubation period. Both eagles have it and share egg sitting duty, although the female eagle does the lion's share, including during nights and bad weather.

Fortunately, the weather has not been too awful for them this year. Last year there was a bad snowstorm and Jackie sat on the eggs for a solid 62 hours. I felt so bad for her, sitting there hunkered down against the wind and blinding snow.

I will enjoy watching these little eaglets grow up, as I have never seen this, and this is amazing opportunity to watch nature in action. I hope the third egg hatches, too.