Happy, sad, and hopeful eagle news

Happy news is the Big Bear eagles are incubating two eggs now. Egg #1 is nine days old today, and hatching is expected to start around Valentine's Day.

Shadow brooding.

Jackie seen with the camera's night vision, fluffing up the nest in windy weather.

Jackie yawning on her day shift. Now that the incubation has started full-time, one of the parents is always on the nest. Jackie does most of the incubating, including overnight, and it seems Shadow takes over for her in the morning and on afternoons.

Jackie getting up to roll the eggs, with a clearer view of both.

Shadow brings her a fish again! ...And lands on her tail while delivering it. He's graceful like that.

The sad news come from the Southwest Florida nest, and unfortunately are that the resident couple Harriet and M15 have lost their only chick, the little cutie I'd posted screenshots of. Life's a fragile thing, and can be suddenly cut short by something as small as a damaged pin feather (which for now is the assumed cause of death). Let's hope the next nesting season is kinder to those two and they stay safe themselves in the meantime. They really make a wonderful team in raising babies, and have given many eaglets a great start on life.

Case in point from last season: Harriet feeding her already fledged daughter.
(screenshot is from a video uploaded by Lady Hawk, warning that along with a cute eagle moment it contains rather graphic closeups of the prey (a rabbit), particularly at 1:05-1:27)

I never seem to catch the trio eagles on the nest when I check the livestream, but videos other viewers have posted to youtube show all three adults have returned for this season, and have been getting the nest ready and bonding, so hopefully eggs incoming. They raised three eaglets last season, all of which fledged, which is really cool, since bald eagles usually have a clutch of two.