12-23-2023 Wonky Stick Placement
Earlier this week, Jackie and Shadow visited the nest in the morning and had a very calm, productive visit of putting sticks where they belong—they apparently weren’t in the mad rush that everyone else seemed to be in at that time. Or maybe they were trying to calm all of us down with their stick-focused peaceful attitudes.
Shadow flew into the nest and immediately noticed a wonky stick that had been left out of place in the middle of the nest bowl. While he worked on moving it to a proper location, Jackie landed behind him. She tried to offer help, but he had that stick well in hand…or beak. So, Jackie worked on other sticks and Shadow went back to making the wonky one proper nest material by biting off some of its out-of-control bits and pieces.
With that settled, Shadow and Jackie both worked on moving a little stick here and a little stick there. (Don’t tell anyone, but when Shadow’s back was turned, Jackie got her two cents in on the wonky stick by biting off one more misbehaving twig. Then she went back to work as if nothing happened.)
One stick needed both of their keen focus since it wouldn’t quite lay down in its place. But with the gentle teamwork, they got that task nicely completed…and rewarded each other with some little beaky nibbles.
Jackie has been at the nest more than Shadow but they’ve both been spotted on some of their other favorite perch trees around the area. No, we do not know why they are not at the nest as often at this time as in the past few years. It could be the lack of snow or the warmer temperatures. These long breaks during nesting season have happened in the past, such as in 2019, and then Jackie laid eggs in March—we’ll keep an eye out to see what our beautiful eagle pair decides to do next.
We hope you are all enjoying the holiday season! And watch for some snow here, promised to be coming this weekend.
Sandy
Friends of Big Bear Valley https://friendsofbigbearvalley.org/
