4-24-2024 Spring Housekeeping Begins

It was a windy day on Wednesday but the skies were still clear and blue. Jackie and Shadow were not around all morning but likely they were just off doing some necessary eagle things. They made everyone's day better though when they dropped by the nest for a visit in the early afternoon to take care of some fluff and egg business. They perched and did some nest work together which was definitely enough to put a big smile on the faces of their doting fans around the world. Shadow arrived first with a stick that stuck to his talon as he landed. He shook his foot a few times to try to loosen it and it finally dropped free. Instead of placing the stick, he just perched for a bit and quietly observed everything around him. When he saw Jackie on her way in with a stick of her own, he stepped closer toward the nest bowl, perhaps to look like he was working.🤭 Jackie came in by way of the back porch with her new stick and placed it immediately. After that, both she and Shadow aerated the bowl together and Shadow decided to move a few sticks around. At one point, a very small portion of the top of the remaining egg was peeking through the fluff and dried grasses. Jackie spent a lot of time aerating the bowl and working at covering the egg as Shadow occasionally looked on. Shadow was also in charge of keeping a close watch over their territory and an eye on the noisy ravens. Every once in a while though he stepped in to help Jackie aerate the fluff around the egg. When she seemed fairly satisfied with her nest work, she moved to the front porch with Shadow, her tail covering the place where the egg was last seen. She decided to take a break and went to the back porch and did some preening. Aerating nest materials can be a messy job sometimes but preening also helped to clean her dirty beak. She was looking beautiful and was ready for some awesome close up photos. Shadow remained on the front porch hidden behind his bold and beautiful Jackie who was now in the spotlight. She was front and center, stunning and fierce, as she surveyed their territory all around the nest tree and beyond. Ravens could be heard vocalizing off in the distance so both Jackie and Shadow kept a close, careful eye on things. Jackie did some more preening and lost a couple of soft, small feathers that blew away with the wind. All told, she spent a total of about forty minutes on the nest, and Shadow stayed a little longer, for about an hour. Shadow watched Jackie fly off, perhaps she was going to quiet those ravens. He kept his eye on her as he heard her calls and chortles off in the distance. The still intact pine cone, that dropped down from the canopy above quite some time ago, remained by Shadow's side as he perched and preened. He then moved to the outer branch of the front porch. It was there where he showed off his fierce look and strong, broad shoulders and then he also flew off as he was also tracking something nearby. Stay tuned for more fun and exciting adventures coming soon for our beloved couple! BKind22 Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV) https://friendsofbigbearvalley.org/ Official Facebook Page:   / fobbv   Official Facebook Group:   / fobbv