While “pip watch” doesn’t officially start for another two weeks, Jackie and Shadow, a pair of bald eagles in Big Bear Valley caring for their three eggs much to the delight of live nest cam viewers across the globe, continue to show the world just how much they love each other.  

The couple’s roost, located about 145 feet up in a Jeffrey Pine tree in Big Bear Valley in the San Bernardino Mountains, is more than five feet wide and six feet deep, according to Sandy Steers with Friends of Big Bear Valley, the organization that operates the live cams.   

Watchers can tell the bald eagles apart because Jackie is larger, her beak is both longer and thicker and her wingspan is over 7 feet. Shadow’s wingspan is 6.5 feet. 

“Pip watch” refers to the tiny cracks eaglets make in their eggs with their beaks as they start to hatch. With an incubation period of around 35 days, Steers said Feb. 29 is when viewers should start looking for pips.  

“Since their three eggs were laid in January, they have had moments where they have been tested by outside influences and each one has been there for the other,” Friends of Big Bear Valley said on their Facebook page.  

With warmer temperatures, the snow in the nest box has started to melt and both Jackie and Shadow have been busy beefing up the aerie with sticks and “piles of fluff in the form of dried grasses and branches loaded with pine needles,” the post stated.  

Even more exciting for viewers is that all three eggs are once again coming into view.  

“It’s the first time [Jackie’s] had three eggs,” Steers told KTLA. “It’s a somewhat rare thing for eagles themselves.” 

“These lovebirds of Big Bear Valley wish you all a very happy Valentine’s Day and we reciprocate in also wishing them many more of love and bonding together,” the organization said.  

Egg Watch 2024 is underway on the Friends of Big Bear Valley’s YouTube page.