Yesterday I met with Scott Leddy of Meadowlark Restorations who is actively and passionately involved in restoring bluff prairie habitat. He wanted to show me some of the work that they have done as he knows how I talk about how golden eagles utilize this type of habitat. We concentrated our looking in an area basically from Rushford to Houston to Wilson to Wyatviille. While looking at the habitat work he has done and other bluff prairies, I was able to show Scott some golden eagles as well. I had done some looking for golden eagles before and after meeting Scott, so for the day I was able to see 9 golden eagles. Eight were adults and were "paired up" and perching near each other or just a couple of trees away. Only one of the adults and the sub adult were the only ones observed in flight, making it difficult to find these birds unless you know where to look, and what I find so interesting is that it is the same bluffs or even the same trees that I have seen birds using for the past seventeen years that I have visiting these areas. If anybody is interested in helping with the 8th Annual Wintering Golden Eagle Survey which takes place on January 21st 2012, we still have some routes open in Houston and Fillmore counties. There are just as many golden eagles to be found in those areas, so if you would like to help with the survey and advance our knowledge on this wintering population, just let me know. Last year we had over 100 surveyors count over 80 golden eagles in south east Minnesota, north east Iowa and western Wisconsin.
THANK YOU, Scott A. Mehus Education and Eagle Research Director NATIONAL EAGLE CENTER 50 Pembroke Avenue Wabasha Minnesota 55981 651-565-4989 ext. 101 ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
