EAGLE DAYS IN SPRINGFIELD, MO

Finally, I got the chance to go.

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Each year throughout Missouri in the early months of the year a number of "Eagle Days" events are held, often in cities near lakes and rivers. Not all that many decades back, the Bald Eagle was extinct in the state of Missouri, but conservation efforts to restore the Bald Eagle to its former territory began about 25 years ago. At the time, many young eaglets, most of them being from Wisconsin, were introduced into the state in made made nests. The plan was to have the eaglets associate those nesting sites with being their "home" and that as they grew, they would stay in the same relative area, eventually nesting their themselves. Thankfully, the plan worked.

Last year when @papa-pepper attended the Ozark Area Steemit Meetup in Springfield, MO, the @little-peppers went to the Eagle Days event with @mama-pepper while they waited for me to finish. That's why "Red-Pepper" has an eagle hat on in this photo with @stellabelle. While I may have been busy last year, this year I wasn't, so we attended as a family.

BALD EAGLES

Bald Eagles should be familiar to some people, since they are the national bird of the United States. Because they eat mostly fish and waterfowl, they need open water in order to find their prey. This causes issues for them in winter, so many migrate south in search of open water. This is why the numbers in some states, such as Missouri, drastically rise during the winter months.

Now, there are not only the winter visitor eagles that can be found in Missouri, but hundreds of Bald Eagles that make the state their year round home. Because of the success of the restoration project, the Eagle Days events have been being held to raise awareness about these impressive birds.

Female eagles, like "Phoenix" pictures above, can stand about 3 1/2 feet tall, weigh up to 15 pounds, and have an eight foot wingspan. The females are larger than the males, but the males are still some pretty large and impressive birds. Phoenix was part of the attempt to reintroduce the Bald Eagle to Missouri, but she did not make it in the wild. Eventually so much human intervention was needed to keep her alive that she would never be able to be released.

On the plus side, she would already be at the higher end for life expectancy of wild Bald Eagles, since she is already 25 years old, and 25 -30 years old is about the maximum for wild birds of this species. In captivity though, one once lived to 50 years at the St. Louis zoo.

These days, and for the past couple decades, Phoenix has been an ambassador for her species, making appearances to hep raise awareness and capture the fascination of the next generation. While we often see wild Bald Eagles in my family, many people are not so blessed. To allow people the opportunity to see these magnificent creatures up close and in person encourages them to care about the wild animals and the environment that we share with them.

It was an educational and entertaining day for the whole @papa-pepper tribe, and if you want to see some more fun from the day, keep an eye on the @little-peppers account, as they have a few fun things to share in the near future.

As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:

proof-of-eagle-days

Until next time…

Don’t waste your time online, invest it with steemit.com

GIF provided by @orelmely

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