Lake of the Ozarks Eagle Days

 Lake of the Ozarks Eagle Days is coming Saturday January 4 and Sunday January 5, 2014.

Osage National Golf Course is where our live Eagles will be.  We will be doing presentations on the hour, from 9 am to 3 pm on Saturday January 4 and 10 am to 2 pm on Sunday January 5, 2014.

Come see three species of Eagles displayed inside the warmth of the Osage National Golf Course Meeting Room.  Osage National Golf Course has been the gathering site for the World Bird Sanctuary live Eagle Presentations for at least 4 years now.  There is warm food available next door in the Kitchen/Restaurant area and warm bathrooms.

Missouri Master Naturalists help with guest questions and crowd control.  The Missouri Master Naturalists also help with sales of Eagle and bird souvenirs.  The proceeds from the sales of eagle gift items help World Bird Sanctuary to be able to care for the birds and continue our mission.  We help people learn about Eagles worldwide and their awesome characteristics, and some of the real risks they are facing in various parts of the world. 

There will be spotting scopes set up below the Bagnell Dam for viewing wild Eagles as they hunt.  Missouri Master Naturalists will help you spot a wild Eagle, answer your questions, and share your joy at seeing wild Eagles trying to catch fish below the dam.

The Lake Area Chamber of Commerce has been one of the long time sponsors/organizers of this event.  World Bird Sanctuary staff is grateful for all of their efforts for so many years.

This is a great event for families who want to get out and enjoy nature and see our National Symbol the Bald Eagle up close.  You will have a great time at this event.  Bring your cameras for some excellent photos.

Also, one of World Bird Sanctuary’s White-Necked Ravens, Lenore, will be collecting money/donations this year.  You will be able to hand your paper currency to Lenore and the she will take it from you and stuff your donation into the donation box.  If you want to have fun over and over, bring lots of one dollar bills so you can enjoy this unique bird behavior over and over again.  This way each member of your Family will get a turn interacting with the Raven.

For a donation of a $5 bill or more, Lenore the Raven will then give you a World Bird Sanctuary Magnet as a thank you.  Yes, with her beak she places the magnet in your outstretched hand! 

So, for a great mid-winter outing join us January 4^th and 5^th at the Osage National Golf Course at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.  Hope to see you there.

Submitted by Michael Zieloski, World Bird Sanctuary Director of Education

Lake of the Ozarks Nesting Platform

Maybe this will be the year the Bald Eagles will use the nesting platform at Lake Ozark’s Bagnell Dam.

The Osage River just below the Dam

The nest platform was designed and built by Eagle Scout candidates and their team of helpers.  World Bird Sanctuary worked in conjunction with Ameren Missouri to have the Eagle nest platforms installed just below the dam.  The Eagles congregate there to catch fish when the power company has the gate of the dam open and water is going through. Fish travel through, too. The Bald Eagles swoop in just below the Dam to grab the fish with their black talons.

We started across the dam at daybreak

We checked the nesting platform at daybreak on our way to my favorite breakfast place called Stewart's.  Stewart's is known for great food and big breakfasts at reasonable prices. The waitresses are always friendly and ask us which of our eagles we brought with us for this year’s Lake of the Ozarks Eagle Days event.

WBS volunteers Lynnette McCurdy and Mike Cerutti were with me.

We were surprised to see Vultures on the Eagle Nesting platform

We checked the Eagle nest platform after we drove over the dam, hoping to see eagles,

but to our surprise we saw Vultures!  Remember, this was daybreak and the Vultures looked lethargic, like they had been there all night.  Upon taking a closer look at the Vultures and counting the birds, we counted seven Vultures that had apparently slept on the Eagle Nest platform.  And on even closer examination of the birds, five were Turkey Vultures and two were Black Vultures.  I was very excited by the Black Vultures.  Even after all these years I still get excited by sightings of Black Vultures in Missouri!

Turkey Vultures are the main Vulture we see in the St. Louis Area.  Black Vultures are found farther south in Missouri and the Southeastern United States.

Anyway it was exciting to see birds using the nest platform, even if they were vultures just using the high platform as a place to spend the night and sleep.

Maybe this year the Bald Eagles will add sticks to the platform and use the nest. Could this be the year?  I hope so.

Submitted by Michael Zieloski, World Bird Sanctuary Director of Education