The famous Bald Eagle Couple of Big Bear Lake flew through the shed, and naturalists point out the city’s July 4th fireworks display as the perpetrator.
Jackie and Shadow and their Lakeview Ellie are the subject of a 24-hour online webcam, and have been monitoring the couple since 2018, when Shadow replaced Jackie’s previous peers. The pair bred and raised five eagles, including Sunny and Gizmo, earlier this year, attracted tens of thousands of viewers around the world.
However, on Friday night, the celebratory fireworks boom and explosion seemed to scare them.
“Jackie and Shadow were not in the roost tree this morning,” wrote Sandy Stairs, executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley on Saturday. Observations were made on the group’s Facebook page. There, Steer records the internet’s famous Eagles and their babies’ in and out (the third sibling hatched March, but died later that month). “And none of their usual vocals were heard from anywhere near me.”
Friends at Big Bear Valley had issued warnings before Independence Day, saying they were against local fireworks that led to “devastation created for 30 minutes of immediate satisfaction.” It distributed petitions with 40,000 signatures, claiming that fireworks could be particularly difficult on Sunny and Gizmo.
The young brothers were finally soaring together on June 27th. This was around the time the organization said, “It’s unclear if they’re still in the area, if they’re expanding their horizons and going on their journey away from their habitat.
A friend of Big Bear Valley runs a camera 145 feet above the Jeffrey Pine Tree overlooking Big Bear Lake. Groups are usually cautious about identifying the couple’s location to avoid attracting crowds to their habitat. They also ask fans not to share or solicit location information, and online updates will use indistinguishable tree names such as “roost tree” and “lookout snuggle” when explaining where they are.
Before the fireworks show, he visited Big Bear, a Facebook page affiliated with the city’s visitor centre and tourism industry, and said he was confident that the show would not harm the Eagles’ habitat.
“While fireworks may surprise them, the US Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that this event is not expected to cause nest breakdowns. As usual, we are drawing fireworks to get away from the nest and reduce the risk,” the post on the tourism group’s Facebook page said.
On Saturday, Steers posted a play-by-play of their two parents’ daytime activities on July 4th. It could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
“Jackie and Shadow were seen together on their favorite roost tree, sprinting through morning songs before waking up and working on starting the day.
By the middle of Evening, Stairs said, “Jackie or Shadow was hanging from the Twin Pines, checking out the surrounding neighborhood.
The boom began around 9pm, Steers said. At that point, “One of the Eagles was no longer visible to the roost tree and was seen on security cameras flying out of the roost tree. Jackie made several other short calls from nearby (calls that were released as warnings about the dangers).”
According to Steers, the “full show” began at 9:17, and “the Eagles weren’t visible.”
Since then, the group has not provided updates.
The Eagles are gone for now, but they may return later.
“We all send hope for their prompt return,” Stairs wrote.
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