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Go, Gizmo! Both Big Bear eaglets fly away from nest
Gizmo on Saturday moments before first flight.
(
Courtesy Friends of Big Bear Valley
)
Both of Big Bear’s famous bald eaglets have left the nest.
Gizmo, the younger eaglet, took her first flight today. That’s five days after Sunny first took flight and about three weeks since “Fledge Watch” began. After walking out on a branch and flapping her wings, Gizmo appeared to basically fall off and into (hopefully) flight.
You can scroll back to about 8:27 a.m. on the live stream video to check it out for yourself.
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Eagles typically fledge, or take their first flight, between 10 to 14 weeks old. Gizmo is right on time, at about 13 weeks old.
Mixed emotions
This is a bittersweet moment for the tens of thousands of fans who’ve regularly tuned in — day and night — since Jackie laid three eggs in late January.
One chick, the eldest, did not survive a severe winter storm that dumped 2 feet of snow on the nest overlooking Big Bear Lake. Known initially as Chick 1, the chick was later named Misty, in honor of a late Friends of Big Bear Valley volunteer.
The two surviving chicks, dubbed Sunny and Gizmo by Big Bear Valley elementary school students, grew from small blobs of gray fluff to young eagles full of waterproof feathers over the past three months. Both Sunny and Gizmo are believed to be females, according to the nonprofit.
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This has been a season full of firsts — it was the first time Jackie laid three eggs at once and the first time two of the nest’s eaglets reached the “Fledge Watch” stage together.
Sunny and Gizmo sunbathing together on Thursday, June 5.
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Friends of Big Bear Valley
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YouTube
)
Where we go from here
Sunny has returned to the nest a few times since taking off on June 2, and Gizmo is expected to do the same.
The young eagles will likely stick around the Big Bear area as they continue to learn how to fish, hunt, and survive in the wild.
Keep in mind that Sunny and Gizmo have not been tagged for identification or tracking purposes, so there will be no way to know for sure which one is which from the wide view camera angle. And the nonprofit noted that they will look similar to other juvenile eagles that may visit the area from other Southern California nests.
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Sunny and Gizmo will eventually leave Jackie and Shadow’s nest for the last time. Fledglings from Southern California have been spotted as far north as British Columbia, as far east as Yellowstone and as far south as Baja California, according to the nonprofit.
But the next nesting season will be here before we know it — Jackie has historically started laying eggs in January.
The chicks get a meal at dawn on Wednesday as a storm approaches.
(
Courtesy Friends of Big Bear Valley
)
The chicks get a meal at dawn on Thursday after a pair of winter storms.
(
Friends of Big Bear Valley
/
YouTube
)
Jackie and Shadow's eaglets during a feeding of fish on Tuesday, April 1.
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Friends of Big Bear Valley
/
YouTube
)
Sunny and Gizmo in Big Bear's famous bald eagle nest on Friday, April 18, 2025.
(
Friends of Big Bear Valley
/
YouTube
)
Sunny and Gizmo in their nest overlooking Big Bear Lake.
(
Friends of Big Bear Valley
/
YouTube
)
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