Jackie the Big Bear bald eagle lays second egg of 2024

fast, efficient and beautiful—four minutes from strain to egg
Jackie's second egg-laying of 2024 proceeded more quickly than her first, according to observers monitoring the Big Bear nest.
Mark

So Jackie laid a second egg on Sunday. How unusual is that for her?

Mimi

It's not unusual at all—it's exactly what we expect. She lays eggs every year, starting in early January and sometimes going as late as March. This is just the natural rhythm of her breeding cycle.

Luke

Do we know if both eggs will be viable? The source doesn't say anything about fertility or survival rates.

Mimi

That's a fair point. We know the eggs will incubate for 38 to 39 days, but the source doesn't tell us whether both will hatch or what the historical success rate is.

Mark

Why was Shadow not there for the second egg?

Mimi

The source doesn't explain that. He was there for the first egg on Thursday, but he was absent on Sunday. It could be routine—he might have been hunting or resting—but we're not told.

Luke

And the labor was faster the second time. Is that normal for eagles?

Mimi

According to Friends of Big Bear Valley, Jackie seemed to do less work the second time around. Four minutes versus six minutes. Whether that's typical or just Jackie's pattern, I can't say from what we have here.

Mark

What's the point of the live camera feed?

Mimi

It lets people watch the nest without disturbing the pair. You can see the eggs, see them incubating, see the chicks when they hatch—all from a distance.

Luke

Has the camera been running long? How many seasons of data do we have on Jackie?

Mimi

The source doesn't say. We know she's famous and that she returns year after year, but we don't have specifics on how long she's been monitored or what her overall breeding success looks like.

  • Jackie completed her second egg-laying of 2024 in just four minutes — even faster and more efficient than her six-minute labor on Thursday.
  • Shadow, her longtime partner who witnessed the first egg's arrival, was absent this time, leaving Jackie to the moment alone.
  • The nest now holds two eggs requiring 38 to 39 days of careful incubation before any chicks can emerge, a waiting game measured in patience.
  • A live camera feed keeps the public connected to the nest's progress without disturbing the pair, turning a remote mountain lakeshore into a shared vigil.
  • Jackie's steady return each season has made her a symbol of the bald eagle's broader recovery in the region — each egg a small but meaningful data point in that larger story.

Along the shores of Big Bear Lake in California, a bald eagle named Jackie has laid her second egg of the season, continuing a cycle of renewal that speaks to both the resilience of a recovering species and the quiet rhythms of the natural world. In four swift minutes on Sunday, life was added to a nest that thousands watch with quiet reverence, a reminder that wildness persists even within the frame of a camera lens.

Jackie, the bald eagle who has made Big Bear Lake her home, laid her second egg of 2024 on Sunday in a labor that lasted just four minutes — quicker and seemingly less taxing than the six-minute effort that produced her first egg the previous Thursday. Friends of Big Bear Valley, the organization keeping watch over the nest, called the moment fast, efficient, and beautiful.

Shadow, Jackie's partner, was not present for the second laying, though he had been by her side for the first. The pair follows a well-worn seasonal rhythm: Jackie's egg-laying window stretches from early January into March, and once the clutch is complete, the eggs will need 38 to 39 days of incubation before new life emerges.

A live camera trained on the nest allows the public to follow every development without intruding on the pair's world. Jackie's faithful return to Big Bear Lake each year has earned her a kind of local celebrity — her reliable cycle a quiet testament to the ongoing recovery of a species that once teetered on the edge of disappearance.

Jackie, the bald eagle who has become a fixture of Big Bear Lake in California, delivered her second egg of 2024 on Sunday. The labor was swift—four minutes from the first visible signs of strain to the moment the egg appeared in the nest. Friends of Big Bear Valley, the organization monitoring the nest, described the process as "fast, efficient and beautiful," noting that Jackie seemed to expend less effort this time around than she had with her first egg, which arrived on Thursday after roughly six minutes of labor.

Shadow, Jackie's partner, was absent during the second egg-laying, though he had been present for the first. The pair has established a predictable rhythm over the years. Jackie typically begins her egg-laying cycle in early January and may continue as late as March, a window that gives the pair several months to build their clutch. Once laid, the eggs require patience—incubation takes between 38 and 39 days before the chicks emerge.

For those following along, the nest is visible through a live camera feed, allowing observers to track the pair's progress through the breeding season without disturbing them. Jackie's consistent return to Big Bear Lake and her reliable reproductive cycle have made her something of a local celebrity, a tangible sign that the species' recovery in the region continues.

The entire process went much faster and seemed to be a bit less work for her
— Friends of Big Bear Valley
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