Saturday, January 27th, 2007 - I attended the 28th Annual Eagles Et Cetera Festival at DeGray Lake Resort State Park in Bismarck, AR.  Several members of the Arkansas Outdoor Photographers Club (AOPC) joined me as part of the January AOPC field trip.  Saturday was a full day of activities beginning at 6:00 AM with registration and the last event beginning at 10:00 PM with a "Night Owl's Owl Prowl".   Although I didn't attend all events, I did attend the "How Do We Measure Up to an Eagle",  "Live Falconry", a "Live Raptor Meet and Greet" and the most celebrated event being the "Live Eagle Release".

Rusty Scarborough, who is falconer and the education program coordinator at the Gov. Mike Huckabee Delta Rivers Nature Center, gave a great overview of falconry and the laws governing the sport.  He also displayed several raptors that included the Harris hawk on the left,  which is not found in Arkansas,  and a very special guest, a golden eagle pictured below.

A "Live Raptor Meet and Greet" was presented by the Little Rock Zoo where handlers answered questions and displayed owls, hawks, a turkey vulture and a bald eagle.   The two favorites had to be the bald eagle, pictured at the top, and a snow white red-tail hawk.

By far the most impressive event of the day was the release of a rehabilitated bald eagle.   A cold rain was falling, but it didn't seem to bother any of us as we waited on Rodney Paul, a certified wildlife rehabilitator, to release the eagle.  He didn't make a big show by getting the eagle out of the cage, holding it up in the air and then throwing it into the sky to take flight.  Rather, he simply removed the cage cover, opened the door, let the eagle walk out on the ground and it immediately took flight out over the open water.  The crowd was silent as we watched the bird fly across the lake.   As it disappeared behind the trees, the crowd began to clap and cheer.  In the midst of all the celebration, many folks failed to see a second mature eagle fly from a nearby island to follow the newly released eagle.  It was an awesome sight!

These are coots or "mud hens".  They are one of the eagle's favorite foods.  The group was swimming to my right as I watched the eagle in the previous photo.  They were holding to cover and in a tight group since the eagle was near.  I was hoping the eagle was hungry and would make a dive at one of the coots.  Oh well, maybe next time.

Eagles aren't the only interesting birds on the lake.  There are many ducks, geese, grebes , cranes, sea gulls and common loons that winter here.  Here's a common loon stretching it's wings.

The park provides eagle watching tours during the winter.  Visit their website for more information.

 DeGray Lake Resort State Park