2020. Jackie laid her eggs on January 8 and 11th.
The eggs failed to hatch and were determined non-viable. After incubating the eggs for more than 60 days, in mid-March Jackie and Shadow started leaving the eggs unattended for periods of time. This was normal behavior given the situation. A raven came to the nest, cracked the eggs and ate some of the contents. The eggs did not have any noticeable development; they were either not fertilized or development was stopped early on. Jackie and Shadow continue to work on the nest and visit often.
2021. Jackie laid the first egg of the 2021 season on January 6. But for unknown reasons Jackie and Shadow were not fully incubating or protecting the nest after this egg was laid. The next morning a raven destroyed that first egg. Jackie laid a second egg on January 9. She and Shadow incubated it a bit more than the first, but it was still often left unattended. On January 13 Jackie laid a 3rd egg that seemed to have been broken before the laying process was complete. After that, Jackie did not seem focused on incubating the egg #2 and it was eaten by a raven the next day.
In February, Jackie laid a 2nd clutch of eggs, the first one on the 8th and second one on the 11th.
They diligently incubated and protected this clutch. On March 18 the first egg started the hatching process. Even though we heard the eaglet’s chirps that evening, by the next morning there was no progress in the hatching and no longer heard or saw any signs of life. The eaglet did not survive the hatching process.
Jackie and Shadow continued to incubate the second egg. After 51 days of incubating (normal hatching time is usually 38 to 43 days), Jackie and Shadow started leaving this egg unattended for short periods of time. On April 17 a raven cracked that now-unviable egg open. It appeared that the chick had never fully developed.
Though the loss of the eggs seemed to impact Jackie and Shadow, they recovered over the next few days and continued to visit the nest. Since then they have visited the nest most days, often in the early morning or late afternoon, bringing sticks and nesting material and bonding as a pair.
Stormy
