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They Grow Up So Fast: Big Bear’s Bald Eaglet Has Flown The Nest (But Will Soon Be Back)
Spirit the eaglet, capture on camera late last week, took her first flight this early morning after weeks of practice and attempts. Watch that flight in the video below
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Courtesy Friends of Big Bear Valley
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It was only a few months ago that we watched the hatching of Big Bear's newest baby eagle live on video as she emerged from her egg under the watchful eye of her parents.
Now it’s a different milestone — one that can bring a tear to the eye of many human parents — the day that Spirit, the name bestowed on her by third grade Big Bear students, launched out on her own.
Spirit made her excursion on on Tuesday in the early morning, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley, who operate the eagles' nest camera, taking off just before 6 a.m.
You can watch the young bird cautiously flap her wings as she stands on the end of a branch surveying the scene. Then she leaps forward, soaring over the evergreens of Big Bear Lake.
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She had been practicing for a few weeks now, taking small leaps and trying out her balance near the nest.
Parents Jackie and Shadow hatched the egg back in early March with the live feed capturing Spirit’s first feeding. It was a successful hatch after having lost many eggs beforehand due to winter exposure and animal intruders.
The eaglet is expected to return to the nest soon in a few days, to eat, sleep hang out with her parents, and learn from their behaviors.
Check out the soothing live feed of the nest:
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Spirit will stay in the area for about two months until she finally ventures out a few hundred or even thousand miles away from her parents.
The species has made an impressive comeback in the Golden State after being on the brink of extinction in 1977.
Bald eagles were reported to be nesting in only eight of the state's 58 counties in 1977. Now, they have roots in 41.
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