At Big Bear, the most suspenseful moment of hatch season may arrive before viewers see anything at all. Jackie and Shadow are tending a replacement clutch laid on Feb. 24 and Feb. 27, after ravens breached the pair’s first two eggs on Jan. 30. That timing has pushed the nest into the narrow window when activity inside the shell can begin before a visible crack appears.

Friends of Big Bear Valley began official pip watch on March 31 and said the eggs were 35 and 32 days old. The organization has said Big Bear eggs generally move into this stage after about 37 to 40 days, which places the older egg in the first part of the hatch window and the younger one only a few days behind.

The most important detail is that hatching starts on the inside. Before an external pip can be seen, the chick first breaks through the inner membrane into the egg’s air cell and begins breathing. Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV) media manager Jenny Voisard, reported that this internal-pip stage can happen a day or two before the first visible mark, which means the adults may react before viewers can confirm anything on camera.

That helps explain why Jackie and Shadow have seemed so intent on the nest bowl. During this phase, the adults may stand more often, lean toward the eggs, cock their heads, or inspect the bowl with unusual focus because they can potentially feel movement or hear faint peeps and scratches from inside the shell. What looks like quiet from a distance may be the first exchange between parents and chicks.

Why the nest may still look unchanged

On April 2, FOBBV said pip watch was still underway and noted that one egg was partly hidden by a high rise panel Jackie had built the day before. That small detail matters. A shallow crack or lifted fleck of shell can be easy to miss even in close-up, especially when fluff, sticks, and the curve of the nest bowl obstruct the view.

The parents’ work remains exacting right up to this point. Once full-time incubation began in early March, FOBBV said Jackie and Shadow were rolling the eggs more than 20 times a day, then settling their brood patches over them for heat. They even curl their talons inward like fists when stepping near the eggs so the shells aren’t punctured.

This stage also carries more weight because these are not the first eggs of the season. After the first clutch was lost on Jan. 30, FOBBV said a replacement clutch remained possible because the loss came early enough in the nesting calendar. Jackie laid again on Feb. 24, and the second egg followed three days later.

Big Bear’s recent history explains why every small pause over the nest has drawn so much attention. FOBBV’s history page notes that Jackie laid a second clutch in 2021 after an early loss, and last season all three eggs hatched, with chicks emerging on March 3, March 4, and March 8. That history does not predict the outcome of this week. It does show that the pair has reached a familiar but delicate stage in which patience matters more than guesswork.

The safest way to frame the moment is also the most compelling. There is no confirmed external pip in the official April 2 log, and FOBBV have urged viewers not to mistake dirt, fluff, or shell wear for a hatch in progress. The strongest read of Jackie and Shadow’s behavior is that they may be responding to life inside the eggs before the shell reveals it to everyone else.