On 2-18-2026, a hungry young eagle circled too close to Jackie and Shadow’s snowy nest high above Big Bear Lake. As Shadow guarded a freshly delivered coot in the winter cold, tension rose in the snow-covered branches.
For a brief moment, it looked possible. On February 14, 2026, a juvenile eagle circled back over the Big Bear nest tree, and Jackie saw it immediately. Just seconds earlier, she had finished eating a fish. Then she looked up — and everything about her posture changed.