Scott Mehus, director of the Education Department at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN will be the featured speaker for the 2021 Horicon Marsh Bird Festival. He will be presenting on “The Golden Eagle Project: A Survey of Winter Populations in the Driftless Region and Beyond”
Scott Mehus is co-director of the Golden Eagle Project, a partnership studying wintering Golden Eagles in Minnesota and Wisconsin. He has been watching and studying Golden Eagles for over 23 years. He has degrees in Environmental Interpretation, Recreation and Leisure Studies.
Come learn more about the two species of eagles that can be seen in Minnesota and the best places to observe Golden Eagles. To the casual observer, being able to identify the difference between juvenile Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles can be difficult. This program will present all kinds of useful field markers to help make that identification easier.
Scott will also share information on The Golden Eagle Project, a partnership of the National Eagle Center, Audubon Minnesota, Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, and Camp Ripley Military Installation. This partnership has released eight Golden Eagles wintering in Minnesota with satellite transmitters to determine where they go during the nesting season, and to better understand their winter habitat requirements.
Scott started a Golden Eagle Survey 15 years ago to get birdwatchers to document the number of Golden Eagles wintering in the driftless region. During the most recent survey, over 200 birdwatchers went out on the same Saturday in January looking for Golden Eagles. They documented over 140 Golden Eagles in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. In the past, surveys have been primarily restricted to the driftless area of those states. Scott hopes to get you fired up and excited about Golden Eagles so that you may be willing to participate in future surveys in other areas of the state.
Register here.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEsceCqpzIvHdXm-jjNEvyJ0R8vrlfTSGG7
