Egg shower

One of the avian raptor nests I follow, the bald eagle one at Big Bear Valley, California, had a big day today (or, yesterday, since I'm posting this past midnight on my timezone), as eagle mom Jackie laid her first egg of the season last night! I took some screenshots of the live stream, as I happened to tune in with both parents on the nest for a bit, and a view of the egg.

Shadow brought his mate a fish snack! And had a peek at the new egg Jackie had been sitting on while she dined. The second peek he's gotten at it, I think. He saw it for the first time earlier in the morning.

A peek of the egg for the camera, too, with Jackie rubbing her beak on a branch in the background after eating the fish. Food in the nest is generally a no-no while there's eggs there, I believe, because any leftovers can attract scavengers, but she left not a trace of this meal. I guess Shadow could tell she could use something extra after laying the egg.

Jackie left the egg uncovered for about just fifteen minutes during all of this, before shimmying back onto it, rearranging the sticks around the nest bowl before, and still after sitting, too. Making the bowl comfier, or building a bigger barrier against the strong wind, maybe both? The egg can be left uncovered for longer periods, too, now that it's new, to "delay" the incubation until the second egg arrives, so they'll hatch closer together. Jackie has laid two eggs three days apart on her previous nesting seasons, so that might be the case for this one, too.

The live stream of this nest can be found here.