Bald Eagle Portraits
Today's highlights from the Upper Mississippi River webcam
Minnesota has the highest population of bald eagles in the lower 48 states with about 9,800 nesting pairs. Only Alaska has more nesting pairs and quite a bit more with an estimated 30,000 pairs. What is also equally impressive is the population size of bald eagles in the Mississippi Flyway.
Capitalizing on this Bald Eagle-Mississippi connection is the National Eagle Center located in Wabasha, Minnesota where many eagles will spend the winter fishing in the stretches of open water on the River. The Center has become a very popular place to learn and view eagles in the winter. As a matter of fact, a couple of weeks ago, the Wabasha city council declared the city “The Eagle Capital of America”. A smart move to boast civic pride and embrace the non-partisan enthusiasm for our national symbol!
Our Eagles today are truly a source for optimism - optimism that a specie’s decline can be reversed and a population can be restored to sustainability. The bald eagle recovery is nothing short of a miracle considering there were only 417 nesting pairs back in 1963. With the ban on the pesticide DDT in 1972, eagle nesting pair population has now ballooned to nearly 72,000 pairs.
About the web cam project that provides these hi-resolution screenshots:
The Raptor Resource Project brings you this bird cam, live from an island in the heart of the Mississippi River’s Driftless area. Located in the Upper Mississippi National Fish and Wildlife Refuge on Lake Onalaska, the Mississippi River Flyway Cam offers an unparalleled look at migrating birds and river wildlife including bald eagles, American white pelicans, sandhill cranes, Caspian terns, cormorants, and many species of ducks, gulls, and other waterfowl.
The camera project was created from a partnership with the Upper Mississippi National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, the Brice Prairie Conservation Association, Riverland Energy Co-Op, and Explore.org. Volunteers helped ferry people and supplies to and from the island, erect two utility poles, and install solar panels, a power supply, and the camera assembly and radios. From start to finish, the project took a total of eight long days over a period of 2 months.
Volunteers from the Upper Mississippi National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, the Raptor Resource Project, and Explore.org will operate the camera and the camera will be displayed at the Upper Mississippi National Fish and Wildlife Refuge La Crosse District Visitor Center.
