Ecobirder

This weekend I headed south down the Mississippi River to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN. The center was celebrating the five year anniversary of their beautiful facility located on the banks of the river. They began back in 1989 as a group of volunteers, called EagleWatch Inc, that pointed out eagles to visitors from a outdoor observation deck on the river. In 2000 they moved to a storefront in Wabasha and took in two educational eagles Harriet and Angel (below).

In 2003 Columbia an immature female was added to the line up. In September of 2007 the National Eagle Center moved to the new 15,000 foot facility. A year later Donald, the center's Golden Eagle, came to join them from California. The final educational ambassador was tiny Was'aka, a six pound male that came from Florida. All of these birds came from rehabilitation facilities and can not be released back into the wild. To celebrate this weekend they also had Native American hoop dancing, chainsaw art demonstrations, a bird show from a Tennessee bird organization, as well as their normal educational programs and displays. The weather was beautiful and it looks like everyone was having a great time. The only thing missing was the cake, but as a diabetic I did not really miss watching everyone else pig out on sugar.