The Eagles Have Landed

...in Starved Rock, Illinois!  The lady who visit teaches me gave me a great tip for something to do this weekend.  Apparently there is a huge Bald Eagle festival at our local lock and dam.  She said that bald eagles migrate to this part of the Illinois River from the north (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and Canada) for the winter because they like to have access to the dams for fishing and nesting.  This is as far south as they like to go because their natural habitat is only in North America. They start migration as early as Oct/Nov, but usually settle here between Dec/Jan.  

So as of right now, they are here in droves for only a very small window of time during Jan/Feb, but by the first of March they will be gone...back to their northern homelands.  A few of them stick around year round, but are harder to spot consistently.  But today, it was like they were having an Eagle party!!  At least 2 or 3 in most of the tallest trees on an island in the middle of the river.  It was breathtaking!  What a memorable experience!  Eagles are such powerful, majestic birds.  Did you know they average about 3 feet in height with an 8-10 ft. wing span? That's about as tall as Parker, but a whole heck of a lot wider!!  Wow!

Starved Rock does a festival at 3 of their locations; the Lodge, the Lock and Dam, and the Visitor's Center in the Park.  A trolley transports you between them so you can enjoy the activities.  There are Raptor shows, children's activities, and lookout spots aplenty.  We probably spotted 10 bald eagles on our tour.  It was so cool!!

The girls enjoyed it; each of them got their face painted and brought home a suet birdfeeder to hang in our trees.  Maybe the eagles will come over for some dinner!?!