9-9-2024 Jackie And Shadow In A Smoky Valley… And ‘Line Fire’ Update

Over the last few days, Big Bear Valley has been impacted by heavy drift smoke from the Line Fire that started down the mountain near Highland on September 5. Other than the smoke, our valley has not been impacted.

The fire has burned about 25,000 acres near the base of the mountain and is currently at about 5% containment--with 1,708 personnel assigned and lots of air support involved. Since it is burning across a wide expanse, the fire has caused 2 out of 3 roads leading to Big Bear to be closed. At the moment, that leaves Highway 18 toward Lucerne Valley as the only exit.

As of today, an evacuation warning has been issued for the entire valley, most likely as a matter of caution due to the currently limited exit routes off the mountain. An evacuation warning means that the residents are asked to evacuate voluntarily, or get prepared in case evacuation comes later, but there is no immediate threat to life.

For those unfamiliar with the area: the Line Fire is still several thousand feet down the mountain. There are several high peaks and ridges in between the fire and our valley, as well as about 10 miles (as the eagle flies) of rugged terrain.

Even though Jackie and Shadow have not been visiting the nest itself very often over the past few weeks, they have been spending many nights on the nearby roost tree and stopping by some of their favorite perch trees as a morning ritual.

It is not uncommon for our mountaintop valley to experience drift smoke and evacuation warnings. And Jackie and Shadow often disappear for a day or two when unusual situations happen, such as lots of smoke in the air. They did that during the Radford Fire in 2022.

This week also, they had a couple days of radio silence…we saw and heard them on September 7, including the nice fly-by on the video. But then tonight, one of our beautiful eagles came back to spend the night on the favorite Roost Tree (and get added to the video!)—probably a good sign, since that means they feel comfortable being in the area.

The past few days we’ve also had an unusual number of visitors to the nest tree--as today's video shows: Dark-eyed Juncos, Pygmy Nuthatches, White-breasted Nuthatches, Red-breasted Nuthatches, White headed Woodpeckers, Steller's Jays to name a few! Wildfires often prompt animals to leave their established habitats and seek shelter elsewhere, so that could be why we’ve had such a wide variety of new visitors.

As we wait to see what the fire decides to do next, we would like to give a HUGE and well-deserved Thank You to all the brave firefighters and support personnel working to keep us safe! Their dedication and hard work is appreciated beyond words.

In the meantime, we will keep an eye out for Jackie and Shadow visits, and be holding positive thoughts that the ‘evacuation warning’ remains only a precautionary warning--so far, all is well, even if a bit smoky. We will keep you updated as the situation progresses.

Cali and Sandy

P.S. For more information about nest events, you are welcome to join our community Facebook group:   / fobbv  

Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV) https://friendsofbigbearvalley.org/
Official Facebook Page:   / fobbv  
Official Facebook Group:   / fobbv