The average time from hatch to first flight for Bald Eagles is 90 days. In my last post, April 12, I gave you the details on the new Eagle chicks at the FOBBV nest near Big Bear Lake, California. The Eagle parents are known as Jackie (mom) and Shadow (dad). Friends of Big Bear Valley are streaming nest activities 24/7 on YouTube.
Jackie's first clutch of eggs, this year, was unsuccessful. The second clutch, 2 eggs, was successful, and chick 1 hatched on April 4. Chick 2 hatched on April 5. My primary use of the internet, since April 4, has been watching these little chicks grow up. It is SO MUCH more fun than watching all the dreadful political mess going on in the USA. 😊
For all of you blog friends, I've been snapping screenshots from time to time to share interesting moments and those images are below. I'm organizing them by DAYS SINCE HATCH and using the hatch date of chick 1 as DAY 1 ... SO, April 4 is DAY 1. The images below begin with the same image I posted in my last post ... if you're curious about the day-of-the-month, it's always shown in the FOBBV ID bar at the bottom of the image, as well as the exact time of the screenshot.
DAY 9
 |
| Jackie and her two chicks on April 12. Suggestion: Click on the image to get the larger view. The images are organized so that you are seeing the oldest images first. Screenshots taken today are at the bottom. |
 |
| The chicks spend most of their time under mom. Both parents are usually not on the nest at the same time, but for short periods, as seen here. |
 |
| Afternoon snack. |
 |
| Late breakfast. |
 |
| Both parents feed the chicks. Usually, fresh fish from Big Bear Lake is the entrée. |
 |
| Both parents assessing the situation. |
 |
| Another late breakfast. |
 |
| What a surprise! Snow started in the middle of the night, April 26th. |
 |
| I felt sorry for Jackie. But breakfast is on the way ... next image! |
 |
| Shadow arrives with a fresh fish. |
 |
| A cold breakfast for all. |
 |
| Excuse the camera's shadow. This is a late-afternoon feeding. |
 |
| Early morning, May 1, UV camera allows us to watch the birds at night without disturbing the birds. I'm noticing Jackie is not covering the little ones as much as she did earlier. |
 |
| Early morning breakfast, May 1, 2026. Both chicks are doing well and growing fast. FOBBV announces the names of the chicks: Sandy (chick 1) and Luna (chick 2) |
Sandy (Chick 1)
Slightly larger overall (head and neck especially)
More submissive personality
Has a slight curve to the gape (corner of the beak) —
sometimes described as a faint “smile”
Luna (Chick 2)
A bit smaller
More assertive / aggressive behavior
Straighter gape (no curve)
 |
| Early morning breakfast, May 2, Day 29 The zoomed in picture is a little fuzzy but it makes a good record of Sandy and Luna almost 1 month old. My guess is, that's Sandy on the left. |
Looking Forward
No comments:
Post a Comment
Questions, Compliments, and/or Suggestions: If you ask a question, please check back here, on the blog, for an answer within, usually, a day or two. Thank you in advance for compliments. I’ll try to keep an open mind about suggestions. All comments are moderated. Please note: Comments with active links will not be published. Comments with an inactive link are probably okay.