The big bear eagle cam drew worldwide attention when Friends of Big Bear Valley posted that Jackie laid a new egg on January 23 and a second egg on January 26, they said.
Jackie and Shadow are wild bald eagles that reside near Big Bear Lake in San Bernardino County, and they return each year to the nest above the valley, Wikipedia notes.
The pair occupies a Jeffrey pine about 145 feet above ground, the nest sits near a parking lot, picnic area, and campsite inside the San Bernardino National Forest, the Wikipedia entry reports.
To protect the nesting territory, the San Bernardino National Forest issues an annual Forest Closure Order, and the closure in place since December 1, 2024 includes gates closed to block off these areas to traffic, Friends of Big Bear Valley warned.
The camera that records the nest was first installed in the fall of 2015 and captured its first recorded nesting season in 2017, and Friends of Big Bear Valley maintains the live stream that draws thousands of viewers worldwide, the organization said.
Recent Seasons Context And Public Response
Jackie is believed to be the first eaglet hatched in Big Bear Valley, and the area has seen active use of the nest since the fall of 2013, Friends of Big Bear Valley and the Wikipedia entry state.
By February 2024 the pair had laid more than 14 eggs together, five had hatched, and two or three eaglets survived to adulthood, as reported in the compilation of news coverage on their public page.
The couple gained broad attention in 2023 when they attempted to hatch eggs amid multiple atmospheric rivers that brought about 45 inches of snow to the area, reporting by USA Today and the Los Angeles Times showed.
In 2025 the pair hatched three eggs, and one eaglet died during a storm a few days later, leaving two surviving eaglets that were later named Sunny and Gizmo, the outlets CBS Los Angeles and ABC News reported.
The names Sunny and Gizmo were selected from roughly 54,000 submissions and voted on by students at Big Bear Elementary School, and Friends of Big Bear Valley confirmed the naming process, while a deceased eaglet was named Misty in honor of volunteer Kathi Misterly.
Friends of Big Bear Valley is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) and encourages public support to maintain the camera and educational outreach, the organization states.
