Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. – Dress for the weather and get set to watch majes­tic eagles by land or Lake dur­ing the 12th annual Lake of the Ozarks Eagle Days, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 9 and 10 am. – 3 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 10.  The event will be spon­sored by the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau, Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and Osage National Golf Club.

Land loca­tions will include Willmore Lodge, off Business Highway 54, just north­east of Bagnell Dam, where high-power scopes on the outer deck will be avail­able for watch­ing eagles in a nat­ural lake­side habi­tat.  Kids will enjoy mak­ing eagle-themed crafts projects pro­vided by Art Xpressions, a non-profit art cen­ter for Lake-area res­i­dents and vis­i­tors.  Wild eagle view­ing also will be avail­able at Bagnell Dam Access on the Osage River and at the Bagnell Dam Bait Shop, both located just below the dam.

In addi­tion, the acclaimed World Bird Sanctuary will present eagle pro­grams every hour at Osage National Golf Resort on Osage Hills Road off Highway 54.  Visitors will have the oppor­tu­nity to see wild eagles in their nat­ural Osage River habi­tat, as well as up close in the Pavilion Room along with other birds of prey.  Eagle experts from the sanc­tu­ary will be on hand to answer questions.

If the weather coop­er­ates, the pad­dle wheeler Tom Sawyer will offer 30-minute Eagle Watch Cruises at $5 per per­son, at 11 a.m., 12 noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, and 11 a.m., 12 noon and 1 p.m. on Sunday.  Visitors are urged to bring binoc­u­lars, cam­eras and wear warm coats, hats and gloves.  Tickets may be pur­chased at the Bagnell Dam dock prior to departure.

Eagle Days has become one of the high­lights of win­ter at the Lake of the Ozarks.  The first live eagle pro­gram held in 1999 attracted 651 par­tic­i­pants.  Last year, more than 3,700 peo­ple attended, mak­ing it one of the most suc­cess­ful Eagle Days ever.

“We invite every­one to attend this fas­ci­nat­ing event and watch the mag­nif­i­cent eagles as they fish at the dam and soar through the air,” says Trisha Creach, exec­u­tive direc­tor of the Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.  She adds, spon­sor­ship and vol­un­teer oppor­tu­ni­ties are still available.

For more infor­ma­tion about Lake of the Ozarks Eagle Days, please visit www.lakeoftheozarkseagledays.com , and to find out more about Lake-area lodg­ing, din­ing, shop­ping, attrac­tions, please call the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau at (800) FUN-LAKE, or visit www.funlake.com.

Photo by Andrew_N

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