Big Bear Valley eaglet Luna takes first flight, sibling Sandy fledges too

Luna left the famous Big Bear Valley bald eagle nest at about 9:24 a.m. Monday, flapping hard before dropping from the rim and landing in a nearby tree. The first flight came one day after sibling Sandy’s unexpected accidental fledge on Sunday, when Sandy lost footing during a porch-side scuffle and ended up flying from the nest area.

The moment was caught on the live stream run by Friends of Big Bear Valley, which has turned the nest in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California into a closely watched window on the 2026 brood. Friends of Big Bear Valley said the camera heard Sandy vocalizing after the fall and that adult eagle Jackie stayed nearby, watching over the chick. By Monday, both eaglets had fledged and the nest was empty.

That sequence, one day apart, is part of why so many viewers followed this single nest so closely. Luna and Sandy are the offspring of Jackie and Shadow, the adult pair that has drawn a devoted following for years at Big Bear Valley near Big Bear Lake. The live feed gives the public a rare chance to watch the moment a young bald eagle moves from nest-bound chick to fledgling, a transition that usually begins with short flights, awkward landings and long stretches of practice in nearby trees.

Luna’s flight showed that stage clearly. After several wing flaps, the eaglet pushed off and made it to a tree rather than a distant perch, a reminder that fledging is not the end of dependence. Young eagles still rely on cover, height and repeated flight attempts as they build strength and coordination, and a nest camera can capture those fragile steps in real time.

The attention around Luna and Sandy also reflects a bigger conservation story. Bald eagles now have a broad public audience, and a livestreamed nest turns a single pair in Big Bear Valley into a lesson in habitat, nesting behavior and survival. The setting matters as much as the spectacle: a stable nest site in the mountains, watched by adults Jackie and Shadow, gave viewers a direct view of how bald eagles raise young and how quickly a nest can go from occupied to empty once fledging is complete.