As beautiful as nature is, it can also be cruel.
While there’s no confirmation of anything yet, there appeared to be just two eaglets inside of the Big Bear nest of Jackie and Shadow on Friday morning.
The nest, which is shown on the 24/7 live stream from Friends of Big Bear Valley, endured a snowstorm on Thursday. Jackie, the mother of the three eaglets, was protecting the eaglets through much of the storm.
During the 6 a.m. hour on Friday, Jackie fed her young eaglets, which were each hatched just last week. But during the feeding, it appeared that only two of the three were present.
In an interview with KTLA on Friday morning, the executive director of the Friends of Big Bear Valley said that because snow was partially blocking part of the camera’s view, no determinations can be made to the status of the eaglet.
“We don’t know anything yet and we can’t confirm anything,” said Sandy Steers. “We don’t know exactly what the situation is. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Steers added that the behavior of the two chicks currently seen in the nest don’t have any indication to the status of the third.
“We don’t know exactly what’s happening. We just have to watch and observe nature, and know that it knows what it’s doing,” Steers said. “And Jackie and Shadow know how to handle whatever the situation is … We just have to know that everything will work out the way its meant to.”
Steers said an eaglet could fail to survive if it became too cold during the recent snowstorms.
Frequently asked questions about Jackie and Shadow, including how to tell the difference between the two, can be found here.
