[dropcap size=big]A[/dropcap] mama bald eagle can be seen helping her two chicks hatch into existence on a nest cam broadcasting the growth of this family in Big Bear.
The first of the two eggs hatched Sunday, the second on Monday. As of Tuesday morning, the little ones had gone from curled up balls of feathers to standing and fluttering about as the papa and mama bald eagles stand protectively over them.
The footage, being broadcasts live from a webcam set of by the Friends of Big Bear Valley has drawn thousands of viewers eager to see the area's population of bald eagles increase to 15.
The area, known as Fawnskin, is protected from the general public.
A spokesman for the San Bernardino National Forest told the L.A. Times that the area is cordoned off especially to protect young hatchlings. “If there are people in the area, the parents could abandon the nest and the young,” Zach Behrens told the Times.
According to the paper, possible development in the touristy Big Bear area could push threaten the protected bald eagle enclave: "The number of state-endangered bald eagles that migrate here each winter to roost and hunt has dropped at least 66% from an average of 25 three decades ago."
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