The months of January and February are great times for Eagle Watching here in Missouri. My little town, Clarksville,Missouri,population 420 is located right on the banks of the Mississippi River. Eagles come to the river to fish when the weather is cold. Lock and Dam number 24 is located on our riverfront. The lock keeps the river from freezing and it makes fishing easy for the eagles.
For the past 10 or so years we have celebrated the Eagle watching with what we call, "Eagle Days." This year , the weekend of January 26 and 27, is when the celebration takes place. The Missouri Department of Conservation comes and brings several live Eagles, along with posters and movies. This all takes place in an old apple packing shed here in town. The "Apple Shed", is now owned and operated by the Raintree Arts Council., This group is from Pike and Lincoln Counties here in Missouri. They host several events each year, such as, art shows, plays, musicals, Applefest and Eagle Days. The movies are shown in the theater and the live Eagle demonstrations take place in the old packing shed. It is spacious, so they can fly about, but has no heat, so tourist must wrap up.We are lucky here, in rural Missouri, to have this organization.
The Riverfront Park just outside my shop window is also a great gathering place for this event. The Eagles always seem to put on a show, fishing and dancing, as hundreds of watchers, watch. There is a fire, hot drinks and information booths. One year over 600 Eagles were counted the weekend of that Eagle days. I hope they come and show off for us again. The conditions are becoming good. Was 12 degree here last night, we have some snow and ice on the ground as well.
I decorated the windows of my antique mall."Downtown Antique Mall", for the event. I'd like to share those windows with you all today. I took pictures of Eagles and went to a photo shop and had them enlarged into poster size. The shop does a great job and the price is not bad. I glued them to foam board, so they are pretty stable. I figure I can use them for years to come, so when you average the price out, that is not to bad. Snow is good for Eagle watching, so I decorated all around the windows and posters with hundreds of hand cut snow flakes. I guess I have reverted to my child hood, as hand cutting snow flakes has been my agenda for the past 2 months. Oh well, at least the price is right.
I wish that you all could come to Clarksville for a visit. See the Eagles, shop my antique mall and tour, My Old Historic House. You are always welcome and I will always leave a light on , besides that, Sissy Dog will meet you with a jump and a kiss. In the mean time, Happy Eagle Watching. Richard
