Discover nature with Eagle Days around the state

Big rivers, many lakes and wetlands make Missouri especially attractive to bald eagles.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Because of its big rivers, many lakes and wetlands, Missouri is one of the leading lower 48 states for bald eagle viewing. Each fall, thousands of these great birds migrate south from their nesting range in Canada and the Great Lakes states to hunt in the Show-Me State. Eagles take up residence wherever they find open water and plentiful food. More than 2,000 bald eagles are typically reported in Missouri during winter.

From December through February, Missouri's winter eagle watching is spectacular. Discover nature with Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) Eagle Days events around the state, or enjoy eagle-viewing on your own. Eagle Days events include live captive-eagle programs, exhibits, activities, videos and guides with spotting scopes. Be sure to dress for winter weather and don’t forget cameras and binoculars. Watch for eagles perched in large trees along the water’s edge. View them early in the morning to see eagles flying and fishing.

Eagle Days events:

•        Dec. 1-2 at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge south of Mound City (816-271-3100)

•        Jan. 5-6 at Smithville Lake north of Kansas City (816-532-0174)

•        Jan. 26-27 at Lock & Dam 24 at Clarksville (660-785-2420)

•        Jan. 26-27 at MDC Springfield Conservation Nature Center (417-888-4237)

•        Feb. 2 at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge northwest of Puxico (573-222-3589)

Other places for winter eagle viewing:

•        Lake of the Ozarks at Bagnell Dam Access east of Bagnell

•        Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area on Route K southwest of Columbia

•        Lock & Dam 25 east of Winfield

•        Old Chain of Rocks Bridge south of I-270 off of Riverview Drive in St. Louis

•        Riverlands Environmental Demonstration Area east of West Alton

•        Schell-Osage Conservation Area north of El Dorado Springs

•        Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge south of Sumner

•        Table Rock Lake and Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery southwest of Branson

•        Truman Reservoir west of Warsaw

Whooping cranes pay rare visit to southwest Missouri

Image via Wikipedia

What a hunter thought might be someone in trouble

turned out to be a flock of rare birds with 7-foot wingspans.

NEOSHO–Jeff Richards was hunting deer north of Neosho Monday night when he heard what he thought might be an injured hunter calling for help. When he went to investigate, he was amazed to find a pair of whooping cranes.

Whooping cranes are endangered, with fewer than 500 left in the wild. They also are spectacular, with wingspans exceeding 7 feet, white bodies and striking red-black-and-white heads. In addition to being a hunter, Richards apparently is a naturalist, too. He knew immediately what he was seeing and called the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) office in Neosho with the news.

Jeff Cantrell, a conservation education consultant for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) hurried to the site and was stunned to find an adult crane and a juvenile fitted with a leg band and a radio transmitter. The two birds were feeding contentedly in a crop field amid Canada geese and crows.

“I got to watch them for an hour or so and share the observations with some avid and budding birders in the area,” said Cantrell. “What a wonderful opportunity for everyone. We witnessed lots of fascinating parental behavior, foraging, and some hopping/dancing almost. When they flew off in the mid-morning they finally called for us. It was truly a heart-stirring moment.”

Whooping crane sightings have been a rarity in Missouri for more than a century. MDC has records of two separate sightings of a single bird at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge in 1958, a pair in Jackson County in 1970 and another single bird at Stockton Lake in 1996. The most recent sighting was of a group of  four to eight whooping cranes mixed in with a flock of sandhill cranes in Bates County in October 2010.

MDC asks that anyone who sees a whooping crane report it to the nearest MDC office.

-Jim Low-

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