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Some of you may remember a thread I posted last year after going to a raptor show. Today I went to another one. These raptor shows are part of the Sauk Prairie Bald Eagle Watching Days. Sauk Prairie is located on the Wisconsin River, right below a hydro electric damn. The combination of the damn, which keeps part of the river from freezing over, undeveloped shore line filled with trees for roosting, and bluffs that help create thermals, all combine to form a small area, where lots of eagles go to spend the winter.
For the last 20 years, the Sauk Prairie Chamber of Commerce, Ferry Bluff Eagle Council and the DNR- Bureau of Endangered Resources have hosted the Bald Eagle Watching days to celebrate these majestic birds, and to educate people about the eagles, other raptors and the environment. There are educational activities for all ages, and bus tours around the area to view the eagles.
This year, the weather has been very warm, so there isn't much ice on the river, but there were still eagles to be seen.
I spent most of the day inside watching and listening to the presentations. I started out with a wildlife photography presentation by Bill Pielsticker. I saw his presentation last year as well. It was pretty much the same thing, but he did have a few new slides to show us.
Next was a presentation on eagles in Wisconsin, followed by a brief discusion about local eagle conservation effors.
The third, and most popular presentation of the day was the Raptor Show. This year the raptor show was put on by The Raptor Center from the University of Minnesota. It was pretty good, but not nearly as good as last years. Last years show had a lot more birds, and they took them out in the audiance so people could get a better look at them. I'll post a link to last years photos below.
After lunch they had a guy telling stories about eagles. They would make great bedtime stories because I think they guy put half the people to sleep. The other half left...
The final presentation that I watched was about Mythes & Legends about birds of prey. This was also put on by The Raptor Center. It was pretty much a repeat of their first show, with a few minor changes. It was a pretty good day, but I was really hoping for the same raptor show as last year, since I lost all of my pics from after some computer problems...
OK, enough rambling, here are some pics from today.
The first two shots of of the Wisconsin River. I stopped and took these along the way to the show.
Here is a shot of Jamaica, a red-tailed hawk. Jamaice is 21 years old. She has a wing injury, and can't fly well enough to be released.
I don't remeber the name of this Peregrine Falcon. The falcon was shot in the wing. She can't fly good enough to be released either.
I don't remember the Great Horned Owls name either. She was raised by people, and can't be released.
It wasn't a good day for names because I don't remember the Bald Eagles name either. Another wing injury, and can't be released.
It looks like the're singing a duet.
This fifth grader was being honored with an award for his efforts to help clean up the environment. He like to draw wildlife, and along with his class, created The Critter Card Company. They took a bunch of their drawings, and turned them into greeting cards, which they sold to rais money to help clean up parts of the local environment.
After all the indoor presentations, I headed to the river to see if I could see some wild eagles. I wasn't dissapointed. Here are a couple of shots. It's kind of hard to see, but there are three eagles in the tree.
Ok, if you made it through all of that, and want to look at my thread from last year, here it is.
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