Eagle Days set for Jan. 7-8 at Smithville Lake

*The Eagles have landed… at Smithville Lake (stock image).*

Press Release by Bill Graham, Missouri Department of Conservation

Smithville, Mo. – The 27^th annual Eagle Days at Smithville Lake will be Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 7-8, with activities centered at the Paradise Pointe Golf Course Clubhouse. Activities will be from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, and from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. This event his hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), and the Clay County Parks and Recreation Department.

*Eagle Days is a great family event (Photos by Bill Graham, Missouri Department of Conservation).*

MDC conservation agents will be present at eagle viewing areas at the lake to answer questions and help visitors use spotting scopes. Eagles have congregated in recent years at the spillway below the dam to feed on fish coming through during water releases. But this year, the lake has been drawn down to allow for work on the dam so water releases are limited, said the Corps Park Manager, Derek Dorsey. Viewing stations will be near the lake and locations will be announced closer to the event when officials find where waterfowl and eagles are congregating. Eagle and waterfowl viewing is somewhat weather dependent, as extreme cold snaps can prompt birds to move south to warmer weather and open water.

The 27^th annual Eagle Days at Smithville Lake will be Jan. 7-8, with eagle viewing at the lake and indoor captive eagle shows and wildlife exhibits. These photos are from past Eagle Days at Smithville Lake. (Photos by Bill Graham, Missouri Department of Conservation).

The event will include captive eagle presentations at the clubhouse by Operation Wildlife, regardless of the weather. The Martha Lafite Thompson Nature Sanctuary, Friends of Lakeside Nature Center, Wings of Love, and the Clay County Parks and Recreation Department Exhibits will also have information booths set up indoors. Some of those exhibits will also include live raptors or terrestrial wildlife such as turtles.

The captive eagle shows by Operation Wildlife will begin at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m. 12:30 p.m., and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7. They will begin at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 8. Seating is limited for the live eagle shows.

The Paradise Point Golf Course Clubhouse is located at 18212 Golf Course Drive, in Smithville, on the west side of the lake. For more information about seeing eagles in Missouri at their winter hangouts or at other planned events, visit https://short.mdc.mo.gov/Zt6.