Eagles on Mississippi River Gorge— river stewards open house forum

Learn more about the river gorge and how you can protect it, as well as meet more of your neighbors. Come to the Mississippi River Gorge Stewards Open House on Tue. March 28, 6:30 to 8 p.m. at St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Community. While socializing you can sign up for river stewardship activities.
The highlight of the open house will be eagle expert Duke Addicks, who will give a presentation called “Eagles in the Gorge.” This winter, more eagles have been observed in the Gorge than ever before. Why are they here? Is the eagle population increasing here? Will the eagles now be here year ‘round? Are they nesting here? Masterful storyteller Duke Addicks will answer these questions and more.

Addicks is an educator at the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota and the National Eagle Center, as well as a long-time volunteer naturalist/historian at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge where he leads weekly eagle watching tours in fall and winter. Duke’s Wild Eagle Watching web page is a good source of information about the winter behavior of wild eagles in the Twin Cities. He is also the official storyteller for the Mdewakanton Indian Community of Mendota and will tell “The Girl Who Married the Eagle,” a story illustrating why the Dakota Mdewakanton Indians respect and honor their relatives—the eagles. As part of the story, Addicks will play his eagle effigy cedar flute and thunderdrum.
Preregistration is requested but walk-ins are welcome. To sign up, please contact Elizabeth at Friends of the Mississippi River (651-222-2193, ext. 15) or e-mail her at estorey@fmr.org.