[mou] lotsa eagles

[Ray Potthoff]

As novie birder and new MOU member I have been busy trying to learn the ropes. Yesterday a friend Gary and I visited  the new National Eagle Center in Wabasha.  I'll relate the results  of our  visit there yesterday. A while back  they did their  annual "golden eagle" survey having  about 60 birders run different routes throughout southeast Minn. and adjacent areas of Wisc. and Iowa. Result was 60 some sightings.        So yesterday Gary Erickson and I went down there to check the results and get some advice on where to go to see if we could spot some "goldens" ourselves. The upshot was quite interesting. We spent about 3 hours on remote county roads east of Alma Wisc. This is coulle country. We saw perhaps a dozen Balds along the river near Reeds Landing  and maybe a half dozen more in the valleyson the Wisc side.  Then approaching a small town whose name escapes me I noticed a fence line with what I initially identified as a huge flock of crows. A little closer and we
 knew they were too big and could only be Eagles. Stopping along the road we glassed them  and counted over one hundred eagles in the fence lines two big  trees and perhaps another 50 in an alfalfa field behind what we thought was a pig confinment building but turned out to be chickens. Some distance away in the field we are fairly certain were two "goldens" not associating with the balds. Later a stop at a local bar and grill (what else in Wisc.) brought the information that the poultry operation discards some of their produce in the field behind their building. A large group of birds there on the ground would occasionally leap in the air and reminded me of those Serengeti Plain specials where the vultures are feeding on an antelope carcass.  We saw perhaps another 25 birds on the way back to the "Big River".  The only thing even remotely similar to all this in my experience was seeing the Eagles along the beach in Homer Alaska. It was truly a most amazing day. 
                                                                                          Ray Potthoff


       
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