February 16, 2007
Eagle Festival
Eagle Update
We're about 11 days from the possible hatching of our first egg. Our eagle parents had a rough week with our big ice/rain/snow storm on the evening of February 13. Many areas of Maryland, DC, and Virginia are still digging out, as the ice has been hard to shovel. Our mother eagle was a trooper though, and didn't budge during the night, as you can see in our recent Gallery update. The father eagle did his part too, by arriving nice and early to relieve mom, screaming at an intruder, and even throwing some grass on mom for good measure. :-)
In the next web log, we'll talk more about what signs we can look for around February 28 that will tell us if the chick is getting ready to make its big entrance into the world.
Eagle Festival
On March 10, 2007, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge will be holding its 7th Annual Eagle Festival. This event is also a celebration of the 104th anniversary of the National Wildlife Refuge System, and also the official Grand Opening of our newly renovated Visitor Center.
We just updated our Festival Schedule of Events -- so be sure to check out this newly updated version, as our afternoon Eagle Prowl time has changed.
If you've never been to Blackwater Refuge, the Eagle Festival is a great time to come. We have several Eagle Prowls during the day, which is when one of our most knowledgeable eagle experts -- Zeeger de Wilde -- will take you around the Refuge and help you see our eagles. You can also ask him all those eagle questions that you've been wondering about. :-)
I just noticed today that Zeeger has been featured in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's "Refuge Update" newsletter, and they mentioned his famous Eagle Prowls. You can read the article here (130KB PDF file).
Also at the Eagle Festival will be several opportunities to see birds of prey, up-close and personal. We will have owls, an eagle, and other raptors that have been injured but are now used in educational programs (click on the thumbnails below). Also at the Festival you can learn more about the role that eagles play in the lives of our local Native Americans -- the Nause Waiwash Indians -- who are decendents from the original Nanticoke Indians of the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
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Our newly renovated Visitor Center will be a highlight of the Festival, as we recently finished our new second floor, where we have our "Pathways to Nature" Observatory -- made possible by a grant from Wild Birds Unlimited and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. This beautiful observatory features a large waterfowl display and high-quality spotting scopes that you can use to look through the large observation windows. The view outside the windows includes the Blackwater River, eagle perching trees, and the Osprey Cam platform. If eagles are on the osprey platform, the scopes will give you an excellent view. And when you head down to the first floor of the Visitor Center, be sure to check out the eagle nest exhibit, which features a real nest built by eagles.
While you're on the first floor, also take some time to browse through our outstanding Eagle's Nest Gift Shop. We currently have the largest gift store in the Refuge System, and because the non-profit Friends of Blackwater run the store, this means all the proceeds from your purchases go back to the Refuge and will help support programs like our raptor cams. So please take a moment to browse our wonderful nature-related items and maybe get one of our attractive Blackwater shirts as a souvenir.
This year's Festival also marks the retirement of our long-time Refuge manager, Glenn Carowan. During his 35-year career with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Glenn has worked on 27 national wildlife refuges in 7 states and served as the Service’s manatee coordinator immediately prior to transferring to Cambridge, Maryland in 1989. In 2006, Glenn topped off his USFWS career by being named Refuge Manager of the Year. The Friends of Blackwater, the USFWS staff, and all the folks assoiciated with Blackwater Refuge will miss Glenn dearly. Fortunately, he's off to do good things in the Maryland state government where he will be taking on a high-level job with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. After the Grand Opening ceremony at the Eagle Festival, we will honor Glenn and wish him well as he starts his new job in conservation.
So be sure to join us for the Eagle Festival if you can. And if you can't come, please check out our Eagle Festival Merchandise page to see some of the eagle items we offer during our most popular event of the year.
Osprey Odyssey
Just a quick note for our osprey fans: On February 26, 2007, at 8pm ET, Animal Planet will air a program called "Incredible Journeys: Osprey Odyssey." This is a wonderful show that follows the adventures of several radio-tagged ospreys as they migrate down the East Coast, through Cuba, and into South America.
These young ospreys were part of the osprey tracking program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and you can learn more about the birds on the university's website.
If you're interested in seeing what happens to ospreys on migration, such as how they fish, where they go, and how they survive (even surviving a hurricane!), then be sure to tune in on February 26 to the cable channel Animal Planet.
And please note that we have heard reports that say the program could also be on February 28, so please check your local listings for February 26-28 to be sure you have the correct night.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
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