Two Big Bear Lake bald eagle eggs seen daily on streaming video may never hatch, having passed their normal incubation time, experts said on Friday, Feb. 21.

The two eggs, still being attended by adult bald eagle parents Jackie and Shadow, most likely contain dead offspring, the U.S. Forest Service reported.

“It’s hard to say this, but the odds of our Big Bear bald eagle nest’s eggs will hatch this year are diminishing each day,” wrote Zach Behrens, public affairs officer for the San Bernardino National Forest, on a Facebook post.

“At this point, we’ll be very (pleasantly) surprised if either egg hatches,” he wrote.

Normally, bald eagle eggs hatch in about 35 to 38 days. These two eggs were laid 44 and 41 days ago, Behrens explained. Even giving an extra day or two for slow development from cold temperatures, “the window of successful hatching is closing,” he wrote.

Behrens said Forest Service biologists expected to see a pip, or a crack, in at least one of the eggs indicating the eaglet is alive and emerging. That was supposed to happen last weekend but it has not, he said in an interview on Friday.

The Forest Service, which hosts events around the bald eagles and in particular, this mating pair perched in a nest high above the lake, tried to soften the blow, saying most likely Jackie and Shadow will return to this same nest next January to reproduce.

On Friday, followers of the nesting pair on Facebook were hoping that if the eggs don’t hatch, the parents would try again right away, called a second clutch.

Behrens said that a second clutch is “pretty rare” and biologists monitoring the nest do not expect that to happen.

Sandy Steers, executive director of the Friends of Big Bear Valley group managing the eagle nest cam, and avid bald eagle watcher herself, said she’s still cautiously optimistic. Live video on Friday afternoon showed the parents taking turns sitting on the eggs. Only when the adults abandon the eggs can scientists definitely conclude there is no life, she said.

“Until the eagles give up, I’m not giving up,” Steers said Friday.

“Every bald eagle is different. Every nesting season has variables,” she added.

In the past two years, the nest has produced bald eagle offspring at a 50% survival rate, Behrens said. One eaglet died last year. But Behrens said he doesn’t recall a time when eggs did not hatch.

Biologists are making educated guesses if no eaglets emerge. It’s possible the eggs were not successfully fertilized. Or the embryos could have died during incubation from congenital defects. Even the cold weather could be a factor, Behrens said after consulting with biologists in the field.

He said Forest Service biologists expect to know the fate of the offspring in about a week, or when the adult eagles leave the nest. Most likely the eggs will be eaten by predators, such as ravens, he said.

“Sometimes Mother Nature can be harsh and disappoint us with our human hopes,” Behrens wrote on Facebook.

The Big Bear/Lake Arrowhead area is home to about 12-15 adult bald eagles, he said.

Also, one pair is nesting on the edge of Lake Hemet near Idylwild. The Forest Service will place a high-powered scope on emerging eaglets for public viewing sometime next month, he said.