Dogs Birds and Ships

The Last Great Race Is Underway
Check out the 2026 Iditarod
The race got underway in Willow, Alaska, last Sunday.
As of today, Saturday, March 14th, the lead musher has
made it more than half way to Nome, Alaska, in the
975 mile (1569 km)  race.

Birds

I took an extended blog break between late last September and February 26. 

Not blogging but still snapping photos and here are a few bird pics to share ...

I love the way the flash of color on one of my
Anna's Hummingbirds matched the color of the
leaves in a tree out front last fall.

Linking up with my favorite critter-photo sharing site,

Saturday's Critters

Canada Goose Conference
Spotted on a waterfront walk.

Watching the Eagles in the Big Bear Valley of California
encouraged me to end my blog break in order to share
this fascination. My previous 2 blog posts
February 25
and
March 5
have been documenting the Eagles as they are
incubating 2 eggs in their nest. Nest activity is being streamed
live 24/7 on YouTube. The screen capture above was
taken on March 11 at 6:16AM PDT. Momma is sound
asleep but ON DUTY!

Ships

Just to set the scene, here is my ship watching view
looking west over Elliott Bay and Puget Sound
to Bainbridge Island and the Olympic Mountains
in the distance.

Here are a bunch of ship pics taken during my blog break ...

National Geographic Sea Lion
departing Seattle on an 8-Day Expedition,
October, 2025

Evergreen Container Ship
on a sunny, fall afternoon.
This ship is southbound enroute to
Tacoma, Washington

The Lady L yacht in Elliott Bay in October, 2025
If you had the $, would you buy a yacht? 😊

Argosy tourist vessel.
These boats cruise around Elliott Bay,
entertaining tourists and locals alike.

OOCL Container Ship arrives in Seattle.
The Orient Overseas Container Line is one
of the world's largest shipping companies.
I am surprised to see the rust!
OOCL Company Profile

Washington State Ferry enroute Seattle to Bremerton
Alki Point (West Seattle) beyond.

An MSC Container Ship with very small load
departing Seattle ... Bainbridge Island in background.
For scale, note the sailboat at the yellow arrow.
(I know ... barely visible!)

An Evergreen Container Ship with a full load of containers.
Northbound to the Pacific Ocean.

Coast Guard Cutter Storis Icebreaker #21
in Elliott Bay early November, 2025

Matson Container ship southbound to Tacoma with a very
small load of containers.  Small load due to tariffs???

SAFESEA Container ship with exceptionally small load
departing Seattle mid-December, 2025

Unusual barge and tow vessel with a small number
of containers probably bound for Alaska or a
small port in Canada.

Looking over the Marina to see an MSC Container ship
with a good load of containers arriving in Seattle,
February 10, 2026

US Coast Guard Cutter 87360 
The "Blue Shark" - a Coastal Patrol Boat
February, 2026

AIRSHIP Good Year N3A
The Wingfoot Three
Floating by in September, 2025 

The Wingfoot Three heading north
above northwest Seattle

Another AIRSHIP
Boeing 777X
passing by -- probably headed to Boing Field, Seattle

Thanks for stopping by! Be well and take care!

John

Eagle Nest Watch

UPDATE: March 15th
Screen Capture from video shared on Facebook
by FOBBV
The moment of the capture was March 13 8:24AM PDT.
FOBBV has multiple cameras watching the Eagle nest.
This unusual view shows, upper left, the main
camera watching the nest. The middle yellow arrow
points to the head of one Eagle, in the nest, on the eggs.
The other Eagle is on the branch, right, ready to 
defend the nest.
As of Noon, March 15 the Eagles are still tending
the eggs on the nest. A little more than 2 weeks to
go until the 1st egg may hatch, assuming a 35 day
incubation period.

*****************************

UPDATE:  March 11th  6:16AM  PDT
Sound asleep but ON DUTY 😊
Weather today:  Currently 28F, Sunny, high expected 64F

UPDATE: March 9th   7:21AM PDT
Sunrise at the nest!
Temperature at the time ... 27F
Forecast:  Sunny with a high around 54F

UPDATE:  March 8th   9:33AM PDT
Watching the nest this morning, I noticed Jackie fly away
from the nest while she had been on duty warming the eggs
all night long. She was away for just a few minutes and
returned at about 9:33. Clearly, we can see there are still
just 2 eggs in the nest. They appear to be in good condition.
Weather today for the nest:  Windy, mostly clear skies, high
temperature around 54F.

The remainder of this post was published on previous days.

********************************************

UPDATE:  March 7th  1:38AM PST

UPDATE info:  According to Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV) website chat, Shadow, the male, is on the nest tonight giving Jackie a break. These middle-of-the-night photos are made available thanks to IR (Infrared) illuminators which generate light invisible to the Eagles. Special sensors in the camera convert the IR to a black and white image, like the one above. FOBBV has published an excellent history of this nest available here. I am linking up with my favorite critter sharing site Saturdays Critters  The remainder of this post was originally published on March 5th.

********************************************

Big Bear Valley, California, Eagles Nest March 5th 6:35AM PST

Windy conditions at the nest this morning ...

Note the Wind Advisory in effect.

I am using the blog to document my nest watch. Are you as fascinated as I am being able to view the Eagle activity in real time? 

Link to Streaming Camera

After a long break I posted about the Eagles on Wednesday February 25th A big THANK YOU to all who left me kind comments on that post. Take another look at that post for several UPDATES between February 25 and March 4th. 

The Eagles involved here are named Jackie and Shadow. They have been using this nest for 9 years now ... since 2018.  

A little interesting background:  Jackie is believed to have hatched in Big Bear Valley in 2012.  The nest cam was installed by Friends of Big Bear Valley in 2015. The pair’s first successful chick together hatched in 2022 (named Spirit).  In 2025 two eaglets survived, named Sunny and Gizmo.

                                  Did you know …

Bald eagles often reuse the same nest year after year, adding sticks and material each season. Over time these nests can become very large and heavy, sometimes weighing hundreds of pounds.

Thank you for stopping by and check back for updates.

Big Bear Eagles

UPDATE:  March 4th  6:20AM PST
Sunrise at the Eagle's nest.

The following OUTLOOK is based on typical Eagle egg time to hatch of 35 days ... the "common" range is considered 34 to 40 

OUTLOOK as of March 4th

UPDATE: March 2nd  7:51AM PST
Breakfast is served.
Both parents, Jackie and Shadow, are at the nest.
46F current temperature in Big Bear Valley, CA
Day #6 for the first egg and
Day #3 for the second egg.
Online speculation: A 3rd egg may be coming.

UPDATE: March 1  10AM PST
This is day #5 for the first egg and
day #2 for the second.
I am encouraged to see the Eagles staying
on the eggs without, so far, taking long breaks away.
Looks like another nice day in Big Bear Valley.

UPDATE: March 1st
Sunrise in Big Bear Valley CA

UPDATE: Feb 28
We have TWO eggs!
Second egg laid on Feb 27th

UPDATE: Feb 28 - 7:58AM PST
Looks like a sunny morning around Big Bear Lake.
Day #4 for the new egg!

Linking up with Saturday's Critters

UPDATE: Feb 27 - 4:15PM PST
60F temperature at the nest when this screenshot taken.
Snow around the lake is beginning to melt.
Mostly sunny. A nice afternoon.
[Click on image for LARGER view]

UPDATE: Feb 27  -  6:24AM PST
Sunrise at the Eagle's nest!

UPDATE: Feb 26 - 4:36PM PST
I believe this is Jackie ... the mother bird.
Her partner is Shadow.
Both parents share incubation duties.
Eagle eggs typically take about 35 days to hatch.

We have a new egg in the Big Bear Valley Eagle's nest!

Link to streaming cam:  FriendsOfBigBearValley Eagles

More updates soon. Thanks for stopping by!

John

YouTube Link