Web posted
Friday, January 25, 2008
Watch eagles tomorrow at nature center
By CHRIS ROBINETTE
Traveler Correspondent
The Bald Eagle is only present for a short amount of time in Kansas, where it migrates during the winter months while looking for warmer bodies of water. It is during this time that local nature organizations enjoy putting on eagle watch tours to give people the chance to catch these rare birds.
The Chaplin Nature Center is planning an eagle watch on tomorrow from 10 a.m. to noon. The event will start out with a 20 minute introduction on the Bald Eagle and its natural history, as well as the history of its human interactions.
There will then be a short introduction to using binoculars, provided by the Chaplin Nature Center. Afterwards the group will hike 1 1/2 miles down to the Arkansas River in search of the Bald Eagles. The eagle watch program is designed with two main goals, a "better appreciation" for nature, and for our national symbol, according to Shawn Silliman, the center's naturalist.
The eagle watch has gone on for 20 years at the Chaplin Nature Center, despite a number of other programs coming and going throughout the years.
"Eagles are really interesting, and people are interested in them,
that is one of the main reasons we got started so long ago," Silliman said.
Depending on the weather, attendance can vary; some years there have been around 100 people attending, other years there have been only one.
If the weather is good on Saturday, Silliman expects a turnout of around 20 to 50 people.
Silliman says that the tour usually sees at least one eagle.
"Sometimes we might see a couple, sometimes we might see one, sometimes we really have to work on it."
Silliman says he has seen several eagles in the area so far.
For more information contact Silliman at the Chaplin Nature Center at (620)-442-4133.
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