The Big Bear bald eagle social media stars have welcomed their first successful hatchling since 2019 just before a snowstorm.
The chick could be seen “pipping,” or starting to break it’s shell, in a live video feed on Wednesday, March 2, and by Thursday afternoon a tiny ball of pink skin and tufts of fuzz was visible under an attentive father.
“Shadow was on the nest for the hatching, he is a proud daddy!” wrote Friends of Big Bear Valley, the group that runs the web cam, on their Facebook page.
“Many of you have concerns about the approaching snow,” the group posted in the early hours of Friday morning. “Jackie (the mom) and Shadow will keep the chick and remaining egg covered and warm just as they have for previous storms.”
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The storm that blew in overnight left an inch or two of snow on the nest, and at about 8 a.m. Friday in a patch of morning light, for all the world to see, the wobbly puffball was fed its first meal of what internet commenters said was cold leftover fish.
This couple first laid eggs in the nest with the camera in 2019 and successfully raised one baby, Simba, who hatched on April 14 and fledged, or flew off, on July 23.
Since then the couple has had a run of bad luck.
In 2020, eggs laid in January failed to hatch.
Last year the couple laid five eggs over several months, but one after another they were destroyed, by ravens, or broken in the laying process. One egg had started to hatch, but the chick died before completing the process.
The couple get tens of thousands of likes on Facebook, and viewers check in from as far away as Australia and the United Kingdom.
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As of Friday morning, the first video of the chick posted had garnered 28,000 likes, 4,800 shares and 2,900 comments.
All eyes are now on the second egg to see if it will begin to hatch.
The eggs were laid Jan. 22 and 25, and they usually hatch after around 38 to 39 days, according to the group. Saturday will be 39 days for the second egg.
Though the U.S. Forest Service closed the area around the nest in December to give the eagles their privacy, the live web cam can be found on friendsofbigbearvalley.org, and the highlights are posted to the Friends of Big Bear Valley and Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam Facebook page.