Kansas City- -area residents will get a chance to see bald eagles outdoors and indoors in January.
During Eagle Days presentations, participants will be able to get an up-close look at captive birds during indoor talks. Then they’ll be able to go outdoors and catch a glimpse of the birds of prey in their natural habitat on large reservoirs and rivers.
Here are a few of the events scheduled for the next few weeks:
- SMITHVILLE LAKE: The 22nd annual Eagle Days at the Kansas City-area reservoir will be Saturday and Sunday at the Paradise Pointe Golf Course Clubhouse in Little Platte Park.
Inside activities will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Operation Wildlife will offer live eagle presentations at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday.
On the reservoir, representatives with the Missouri Department of Conservation and volunteers will help visitors with spotting scopes set up near areas the eagles have been using.
The event is sponsored by the Department of Conservation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Clay County Parks and Recreation and private conservation groups.
- LAKE OF THE OZARKS: Missouri’s best-known lake will be the site of another Eagle Days program Saturday and Sunday All events will take place in and around the community of Lake Ozark. Saturday’s activities will run 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., with Sunday’s events from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wild-eagle viewing will take place at Willmore Lodge and the Bagnell Dam Access. The Celebration II luxury cruise yacht will also offer eagle-watching cruises at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday for a charge of $15 for adults, $10 for children.
Inside programs will be featured at the Osage National Golf Course just minutes from Bagnell Dam and at School of the Osage Heritage Elementary, 1571 Bagnell Dam Blvd.
- TUTTLE CREEK LAKE: The U.S Army Corps of Engineers also will have its annual Eagle Day presentation Saturday at Tuttle Creek Lake in Manhattan, Kan.
The event will run from 9 a.m. to noon at the Manhattan Fire Headquarters at the corner of Dennison and Kimball avenues. There will a live eagle presentation, talks and bus tours.
- MILFORD LAKE: A large Eagle Day presentation will take place Jan. 14 at this reservoir near Junction City, Kan.
Activities will be based at the Milford Nature Center, with indoor programs beginning at 9:15 a.m. Live eagle presentations will be at 10 a.m., 12:15 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. There also will be bus tours leaving the nature center every half-hour from 9 a.m. through 2 p.m.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Geary County Convention and Visitors Bureau and other organizations will sponsor the event.
- KAW VALLEY: The 21st annual Kaw Valley Eagle Day is set for Jan. 21 at Free State High School, 4700 Overland Drive, in Lawrence, Kan. Nature and environmental exhibits, talks and children’s activities will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the high school. Bus tours of eagles in the wild, either at Clinton Lake or along the Kansas River, will leave at 10:45 a.m. and 3 p.m.