April 2021 Big Bear Today Magazine

Page 6—April 2021
A pip, a peep, then nothing
One bald eagle chick died in its shell and the other
never hatched, leaving Big Bear’s birds 0-for-5 in 2021
People watching the live nest cam
could tell something was wrong after
the first bald eagle chick didn’t
emerge from its shell.
On March 18 the first egg in the twoegg
clutch begin the pip process of breaking
through the shell. That night the baby
bird could even be heard chirping inside
the egg on the nest microphone. Then next
morning, no activity was observed as the
chick apparently died still inside its shell,
perhaps unable to break out or from the
elements.
Unfortunately nothing was also the
story of the clutch’s second egg. The normal
incubation period of 35 days or so
came and went with nary a pip to be seen.
At 40 days in late March the Forest Service
said that a successful hatching was
highly unlikely.
At press time bald eagle parents Jackie
and Shadow were still been incubating the
egg but as time progresses they’ll start to
leave it unattended for longer and longer
periods. At some point the egg will be
found by ravens or other scavengers. And
another clutch is considered highly unlikely
till next year.
None of the five eggs laid by Jackie
in 2021 survived as January’s clutch saw
two eaten by ravens and a third break. Virtually
a repeat of last year, when two eggs
never hatched for unknown reasons.
For two years straight before that, an
eagle survived from each pair of eggs laid,
so Big Bear now has true native bald
eagles.. The mortality rate for bald eagle
eggs and eaglets is 50% and Big Bear has
certainly seen that and then some.
Even so bald eagle numbers nationwide
are soaring. Once threatened with
extinction and on the Endangered Species
List, bald eagles have made an incredible
recovery in recent years. A United States
Fish and Wildlife report shows that the
number of birds in the Lower 48 states has
quadrupled just since 2009.
In 1963 there were just 417 nesting
pairs in the continental U.S. That number
has ballooned to over 71,000 with over
316,000 individual bald eagles. In 2009
there were 72,434 solo birds so the number
has risen by a factor of four.
In Big Bear bald eagle numbers seem
to have been dwindling ago even as populations
nationwide recover. Monthly counts
held by the Forest Service for 40 years
were discontinued after the 2019 season
so there aren’t any current official numbers.
But counts typically tallied around
10 eagles give or take, down from highs in
the 20’s and even 30’s dating back a couple
decades.
That bald eagles winter here is not surprising.
A significant population has used
Big Bear as a southern seasonal destination
dating back to when the lake was
formed. The Valley is along the Pacific
Migratory Flyway and affords reliable fishing
for birds traveling from Montana, Wyoming,
Idaho, even Canada and Alaska.
As northern waters freeze over ice entombs
fish and ducks fly south, so the two
favorite foods for bald eagles become unavailable.
Wintering here makes perfect
sense: there’s lots of ducks and coots, and
the lake rarely freezes over. Even when it
does, intelligence-challenged coots freeze
right into the water overnight, making for
easy eagle pickin’s locals term
“cootsicles.”
In the last several years Big Bear has
seen a permanent bald eagle population
established of about 12-14 birds. Reasons
for declining Big Bear eagle numbers include
development.
See and hear Jackie and Shadow courtesy
of the bald eagle nest cam installed
FriendsofBigBearValley.org/eagles. Even
though there aren’t organized tours or
viewings, eagle aficionados have been getting
an incredible look at how nature works
on the live stream. The eagle nest has been
in active use since 2013. The eagle cam
was installed two years later and captured
its first nesting season in 2017.
Watch the live streaming nest cam at
FriendsofBigBearValley.org/eagles and
follow Big Bear Lake Bald Eagles group
Big Bear Today
A second two-egg clutch in February for Big Bear bald eagles Jackie and Shadow
on Facebook. Chirp Nature Center in the
Village has the stream on as well.
Duke & Peggy at Pines
Tavern weekends
Ever heard a duo perform Led
Zeppelin’s Kashmir? Duke Michaels
and Peggy Baldwin play the classic and
much more weekends at The Pines
Lakefront Tavern. He’s a guitar-playing
recording artists; her violin has recorded
with ELO, Yanni and others.
330 Alden Rd. just east of Pine
Knot. Call (909) 866-5400.