The day before the latest snowfall, they started in the early morning…first Shadow, then Jackie. Bringing sticks to the nest. Shadow’s stick was big and he worked hard to find the just right place for it. Jackie’s stick was a bit complex so Shadow decided she needed assistance with it…but before he could get a good hold on it, Jackie plowed forward and nearly toppled him over in her rush to get that stick to where she could see it belonged. Then she moved Shadow’s stick…which obviously, was not allowed. He tugged that stick right away from her and moved it himself to a new perfect spot.
A bit later, Jackie brought in a particularly troublesome stick…it was such an odd ball that she spent over four full minutes moving that stick to each and every side of the nest and still could not get it correctly situated to her satisfaction. She gave it so much attention that a raven came and landed on the front porch…probably on a double dare from his buddies, betting that she was so busy she wouldn’t even notice him. But they underestimated Jackie, who has her priorities in full alignment. She immediately focused her full attention on that raven, keeping a keen eye on him until he left the premises.
After all that intense work, Jackie took a little break on the front porch and watched a flock of white pelicans start circling the area. The circling started with a few, and as they often do, more and more individual pelicans joined in and the whole group spiraled upward on the wind currents. Many white pelicans migrate through the area in autumn and spring. Though a few sometimes stay through the winter, they mostly use Big Bear Lake as a good stopover point on their route.
Nightfall found Jackie and Shadow working together again, this time arranging and softening the material in the nest bowl. In the midst of all that bumping closeness, they, of course, had to take a little time for some sweet beaky kisses. Then, while Shadow tried one more time to find the right spot for that big stick he brought in the early morning, Jackie settled in for a little sit down in the nest bowl. It seemed to fit nicely as she made a few minor adjustments to surrounding fluff…and then she headed off to roost, leaving Shadow to finish the final nest work of the day.
Sandy

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