Eagle Chick 'Hatch Watch' Has Tens Of Thousands Watching Nest Cam

Expectant bald eagle parents Jackie and Shadow have braved wind, rain and snow to protect their three precious eggs.

Two expectant eagle parents in California have tens of thousands of people eagerly awaiting the hatching of their chicks, thanks to a live feed of the birds’ nest.

Jackie, a female, and Shadow, a male, are bald eagle mates who share a nest in Southern California’s San Bernardino Mountains. The nest is about 145 feet up in a pine tree with a view of Big Bear Lake.

Since 2015, the nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley has had a webcam providing a livestream of the goings-on inside the nest ― and lately, things have gotten especially interesting.

Jackie laid three eggs in January, and The Associated Press reported Thursday that the chicks could hatch soon. On early Saturday afternoon, nearly 20,000 viewers were tuned in to a YouTube livestream, participating in what multiple news outlets are calling “hatch watch.”

The Saturday stream showed one of the eagles dutifully incubating the eggs as rain and wind buffeted the nest, but the parents-to-be are no strangers to inclement weather. Last month, the two were seen protecting the eggs in shifts amid a fierce snowstorm. At one point, Jackie stayed atop the eggs without a break for just under 62 hours.