For a few days, something about Shadow didn’t feel right. Every time he returned to the Big Bear nest, there…
On February 16, 2026, as a powerful winter storm pushed toward Big Bear and the wind began to build, Jackie made a move that instantly changed the mood in the nest. She lowered herself slowly into the bowl, pressing flat and still in a posture eagle watchers know well. Pancaking. The timing could not have felt more dramatic.
For a brief moment, it looked possible. On February 14, 2026, a juvenile eagle circled back over the Big Bear nest tree, and Jackie saw it immediately. Just seconds earlier, she had finished eating a fish. Then she looked up — and everything about her posture changed.
On February 12, 2026, what should have been a routine meal at the Big Bear eagle nest turned into one…