Schell City to host Eagle Days event

Eagles are almost a common sight on the Schell-Osage Conservation area, in northeastern Vernon County

SCHELL CITY -- The Missouri Department of Conservation is scheduled to host an Eagle Days event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Feb. 8, in Schell City.

Both indoor exhibits and outdoor eagle viewing will be offered during the event. All programs included in the annual event are free.

Indoors, the Dickerson Park Zoo will display a live bald eagle and a golden eagle at the Schell City Community Building, in northeastern Vernon County. Programs will begin on the hour, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with the last program of the day starting at 3 p.m. Experts from the zoo will talk about eagle ecology and life habits as they display the eagles.

An eagle guards a fish it has recently killed on a river bank.

Live eagle viewing will be available outdoors at the nearby Schell-Osage Conservation Area, as well. Members of the Missouri Department of Conservation staff will set up spotting scopes and be on hand to help visitors locate eagles in the area.

The area also has two eagle nests, one of which is visible from the road. Numbers of waterfowl and eagles in the area are expected to be somewhat weather-dependent.

Schell-Osage has wetlands, lakes and the Osage River, all of which attract migrating waterfowl. Eagles pass through the area in winter and feed on fish and waterfowl.

A few eagles are resident birds. The area is a good place, year-round, to watch wildlife.

For more information on bald eagles in Missouri, go to www.mdc.mo.gov. For information about the Schell-Osage Conservation Area, go to http://on.mo.gov/1docAQO.