Over the weekend, thousands of bird enthusiasts gathered on the west side of Smithville Lake for Eagle Days.
The celebration marks the 28th year of the winter birding event at Paradise Pointe Golf Course Clubhouse located at 18212 Golf Course Drive in Smithville.
The two-day event is hosted by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Clay County Parks and Recreation Department.
The event featured seven live raptor programs hosted by Gary Crain with Operation Wildlife and exhibits by Wings of Love, the Martha Lafite Thompson Nature Sanctuary, the Friends of Lakeside Nature Center, and the Clay County Parks and Recreation Department.
The live raptor programs provided visitors with a close-up look at an American kestrel and a nine-year-old bald eagle. The raptors were either orphaned or injured in such a way that prevented their release back into the wild.
Crain, a 20-year volunteer with Operation Wildlife (OWL), said OWL has been providing rehabilitation services and veterinary care for injured and orphaned wild animals for 35 years. About 69 percent of the animals they treat are returned to the wild.
Yvonne Patterson-Burbach with Wings of Weston spoke with visitors about her passion for birds. Patterson-Burbach, who is also known as the Bird Lady, has been presenting live educational bird shows at public libraries for more than a decade.
She trains all of her birds using positive reinforcement and her showstopper is a trained 16-year-old Eurasian eagle owl named Swoop. He often steals the show when he glides noiselessly over the audience with his enormous 5.5 ft wingspan. Patterson-Burbach said Swoop imprinted on her when he was nine days old.
Clay County Parks and Recreation and the Missouri Department of Conservation also offered visitors a closeup look at scaly reptiles and terrestrial wildlife.
Attendees learned about the journey that migratory birds take each year and why so many raptors visit the Show-Me State during the cold winter months.
Several eagle viewing stations were set up along the lake and conservation agents were helping visitors catch a glimpse of bald eagles, waterfowl, and other migrating birds using spotting scopes with various magnifications. At the spillway at the Smithville Lake dam, visitors with binoculars and cameras caught a glimpse of wild bald eagles and raptors feasting on fish just west of the dam. Visitors also spotted raptors circling the blue sky for food sources along the Little Platte River and later resting in bare trees.
In a Nature’s Calling video segment, Lucas Bond with the MDC, said “From December through February you will find some of the best eagle watching right here in Missouri. Due to Missouri’s big rivers, many lakes, and abundant wetlands, the Show-Me State attracts thousands of these great birds every year.
“Eagles take up residence wherever they find open water and plenty of food. More than 2,000 bald eagles are typically reported here in the state during the winter,” he added.
Because geese congregate near open water, eagles are often spotted perched in stately trees along the water’s edge during winter. Eagles feed on waterfowl and catch fish swimming near the surface of the water. With a surface area of 11.23 square miles and 24 miles of paved multi-purpose trails, Smithville is a great place to see eagles flying and fishing.
Eagles migrate here from Canada and the Great Lake states, seeking a sustainable food source during the winter. They take up a temporary residency in Missouri but eventually return to their nesting place.
Bald eagles have extremely sharp eyesight with a 340-degree field of view. They have both monocular and binocular vision, allowing them to see about four to eight times stronger than a human.
The Missouri Department of Conservation hosts 16 Eagle Day events over the winter.
For more information on Eagle Days, visit short.mdc.mo.gov/Zt6