7-08-2023 Hooray... Welcome Home!
They decided to come home!
Jackie and Shadow were both seen the evening of July 4 before sundown…then the fireworks show on Big Bear Lake happened…
It took 3 days, but Jackie and Shadow finally came back yesterday evening. For that time, we do not know where they went, but they were not seen on either camera nor around the lake by people who know where they usually hang out nor were any vocalizations heard from them. (Even though 3 days was hard to take, it was better than last year when they left for nearly 6 full days!)
Shadow showed up first in the early evening yesterday, hanging out on the roost tree. He was there for almost 2 hours, checking out the neighborhood, upsetting a raven or two by his presence, doing a little stretch yoga, and climbing up to his favorite sleeping spot to make sure everything was still in order. Jackie made herself known with a nearby chortle, like only Jackie can do…but she stayed well-hidden until later.
Shortly before sundown, Jackie finally showed herself as she and Shadow joined each other on their favorite perch tree, the Stick Depot Snag. They each moved, branch by branch, closer to each other on the tree until they were beak-to-beak. Apparently, they needed to have a little private conservation time. And after this sweet late-evening togetherness, they both took their place, side-by-side, on the sleeping branch of their favorite roost tree for the night.
Early this morning found Jackie and Shadow still together on their roost tree branch as they sang a beautiful chortling duet to welcome the morning and announce that they were glad to be home.
Yes, we, like many of you are very concerned about the impact that fireworks, especially in the middle of a National Forest, have on the surrounding wildlife and environment. Yes, we felt the worry when Jackie and Shadow chose to be away from their home territory for an extended period. And yes, we are very, very happy to see that they decided to return home!
For any of you who might be interested, we are gathering information on the intense and detrimental impact that fireworks have on wildlife, on the lake, on the environment in general and even on domestic animals and humans. If any of you have references to studies about any of this, please share them with us at [email protected]. Thank you!
And for today, let’s all celebrate that Jackie and Shadow are back home!
Sandy
FriendsofBigBearValley.org https://friendsofbigbearvalley.org/
