Big Bear eaglet takes flight from nest in California
Big Bear's famed bald eagle parents, Jackie and Shadow, are getting closer to being empty-nesters as one of their two eaglets took flight from the comforts of the nest on Monday.
At about 10:46 a.m., one of the eaglets was perched on a branch when she appeared to jump off, flap her wings and fly away. Friends of Big Bear Valley Executive Director Sandy Steers told KCAL News on Monday that it was Sunny who left the nest, while Gizmo stayed behind.
"I feel elated that Sunny made it and is flying and is successful," Steers said.
It's not yet clear where Sunny flew off too, but young eagles oftentimes return to the nest relatively quickly after their first flight, Steers said.
The eaglets were born in March and are around 12 weeks old, making it prime-fledging time. Viewers of the Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam have been anticipating the moment when eaglets Sunny and Gizmo would brave flight. "Fledge watch" began around May 13, as bald eagles are between 10 to 12 weeks old when they leave their nest.
One of the Big Bear eaglets appeared to take flight around 10:46 a.m. on Monday.
Friends of Big Bear Valley
Sunny's flight on Monday was the result of days of practice.
Friends of Big Bear Valley noted on Facebook posts that the pair had been flapping and jumping, preparing for their flight as they stood on the outer rails of their nest.
"The birds show signs of flight as they start flapping their wings hard and fast enough to feel their feet lift slightly off the nest. They will then likely start venturing out onto the outer branches of the nest tree and also practice there," FOBBV wrote on Facebook. Once confident, they will take off, likely near a perch tree where Jackie and Shadow have been hanging out.
As of Monday, Gizmo was yet to leave the nest with her sister. Steers said Gizmo was slower developing than Sunny, so it's not yet clear if she'll be ready in the next few days.
What's next for the eaglets?
Gizmo and Sunny were both determined to be female, based on quick growth. Both will remain in the habitat for one to three months after fledging, and FOBBV said they will likely be in and out of the nest during this time.
"By fall, they will take off on their own. Since they aren't banded, we will have no way to know if they stay together, or for how long," FOBBV wrote on Facebook. It is also not known if they will recognize each other. The organization noted that there is some evidence that bald eagles can memorize, but there have not been any specific studies to verify that information.
Most eagles reach maturity around 5 years old, with a white head and tail and bright yellow beaks and eyes.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
24 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Deebo Samuel, Mike Sainristil and a promising sign for the Commanders
After the Washington Commanders finished practice Wednesday, veteran receiver Deebo Samuel and second-year cornerback Mike Sainristil kept working out together in a moment that encapsulated the state of the team. Samuel, who's entering his seventh season, ran about a dozen routes to show the young corner how receivers could use different release techniques at the line of scrimmage to create separation against him. One big focus was refining how to stick to receivers who use an outside release to set up an inside route. Sainristil has seen such moves before, of course, but he wanted to see them again and again so his reactions would become automatic. The moment was a metaphor. The team is Sainristil, a young upstart with lots of promise, and it wants to be Samuel, a proven winner and consistent presence in the biggest playoff games. Their work together distilled the purpose of this space in the NFL calendar between the roster-building flurry of the spring and the training-camp battles of the summer. These offseason workouts, which will end next week with mandatory minicamp, are for experimentation, relationship-building and skill development. 'You would've thought he's been here the past five years of his career the way he's adjusted,' Sainristil said of Samuel. 'He's a guy that loves extra work, loves football, loves to win. So, any way I can pick his brain about what receivers do to help myself, I'm going to do exactly that.' Coach Dan Quinn gushed about 'the environment that the players have created together.' 'We all know, to be at our best, it's gonna take all of us improving,' he said. 'If that's Mike asking Deebo a certain technique or vice versa, that's really where it takes place. And so, we take these times on the field seriously, 'cause it's not just the scheme, it's the individual skill work.' There's a massive difference, Quinn pointed out, between knowing what to do and having the minute details ingrained in muscle memory. 'Be very specific; I think that's where the gold is,' he said. 'That's why I think the teaching this time of year has to shine on the coaches, and we've got some excellent ones because they'll get very specific on the certain techniques. 'Let's try that one again. Let's put the hand into this space.' You're not in a rush to get to the next play [like you are during the season]. … If they have to do it four or five times, that's okay.' Defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. recently did similar work. He had a group of safeties practice press technique against a tight end. That specific skill set might not always be top of mind for coaches. But it could matter a lot in a big moment of a big game if safety Will Harris has to press, say, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert. It might not have been a coincidence that Wizards Coach Brian Keefe attended practice Wednesday. 'We learn a lot from the NBA [in terms of] what that small group would look like, of a specific two or three players getting better on something,' Quinn said. Samuel said he knows there are things he needs to work on himself. His top goal of the offseason was 'being in better shape for sure,' he said, though he declined to detail what he focused on or how it would show up in his game. He pointed out he also needed to learn a new offense. But Samuel showed through his work with Sainristil that he understands his value to the Commanders goes beyond his individual skills. He's been here just for a few weeks but has already embraced the word 'brotherhood,' the team's favorite way to express closeness. 'The guys in the locker room make it easy,' Samuel said. 'When I walked in the locker room, I felt like I've been here before because of how the guys treated me.' Said Whitt: 'When we went on that three-game losing streak [last season], it wasn't anything other than the brotherhood that kept them together.' The brief post-practice scene Wednesday carried all this subtle significance. Mentorship from talented veterans can help younger players — and therefore the team — actualize their potential. And the relationships built in those moments can help players stick together during tough times.
CBS News
31 minutes ago
- CBS News
Major runway at Chicago Midway Airport gets $47 million makeover
A major runway at Chicago Midway International Airport is getting a multi-million dollar makeover, and the project broke ground Thursday. The Chicago Department of Aviation will be reconfiguring Runway 13C/31C to create two new taxiways, as well as doing some major repaving and installing new runway guard lights. The project has been in the works since 2022. As a part of the ongoing efforts to improve operations at Midway, the existing Runway 13L/31R, which the city said has been closed since 2023, will be permanently decommissioned as of June 12. When that happens, Runway 13C/31C will be redesignated as Runway 13L/31R. The goal of the project is for aircraft to be able to take off more efficiently, and reduce delays and traffic across the airfield. The groundbreaking event was attended by officials from the Chicago Department of Aviation and Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Fox News
31 minutes ago
- Fox News
Tom Hanks says 'we all come from checkered' lives amid daughter's memoir claiming abusive childhood
Tom Hanks has his daughter's back. During an interview with Access Hollywood on Wednesday, the Oscar Award-winning actor got candid about daughter E.A. Hanks' decision to go public with her abuse allegations against his ex-wife in her memoir, "The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road." "She's a knockout, always has been," Hanks said of the daughter he shared with the late Susan Dillingham. "You know, it's a pride because I think — she shares it with me. She's very open about what the process is." "If you've had kids, you realize that you see who they are when they're about six weeks old," he continued. "Their personality is on display right there. Their temper, the way they see the world is demonstrated in their body language and on their face." "We all come from checkered, cracked lives, all of us." "I'm not surprised that my daughter had the wherewithal as well as the curiosity — as well as, I'm going to say perhaps a shoot-herself-in-the-foot kind of wherewithal — in order to examine this thing that I think she was incredibly honest about." "We all come from checkered, cracked lives, all of us," he concluded. E.A., whose initials stand for Elizabeth Anne, wrote about her complicated childhood marred by her parents' divorce and a mother she claims could be emotionally and physically "violent." After her parents' divorce, her mom got full custody and moved them to Sacramento. "As the years went on, the backyard became so full of dog s--- that you couldn't walk around it, the house stank of smoke," she wrote in an excerpt obtained by People magazine, adding she believes her mother, although undiagnosed, suffered from bipolar disorder and episodes of extreme paranoia and delusions. "The fridge was bare or full of expired food more often than not, and my mother spent more and more time in her big four-poster bed, poring over the Bible." E.A. recalled one night when her mother's emotional violence "became physical." "One night, her emotional violence became physical violence, and in the aftermath I moved to Los Angeles, right smack in the middle of the seventh grade," she wrote. "My custody arrangement basically switched — now I lived in L.A. and visited Sacramento on the weekends and in the summer." E.A. added that in her senior year of high school, her mother "called to say she was dying." Dillingham died of lung cancer in 2002 at the age of 49. Fox News Digital's Brie Stimson contributed to this post.
