Use Web to plan trip to watch eagles

By ROGER PETTERSON, Associated Press Writer Mon Dec 24, 1:14 PM ET

Looking for a short getaway with a wildlife theme? Go watch a winter convention of bald eagles, the soaring national symbols that head south to spend the cold months along lakes and rivers where they're easier to see than usual.

You've got time to make plans for visiting the Jan. 26-27 Upper Skagit Bald Eagle Festival — http://tinyurl.com/yor3eo — in the northwest corner of Washington state, between Puget Sound and North Cascades National Park. The schedule includes regional entertainers, demonstrations and bird presentations. How likely are you to see bald eagles? Click on "Eagle County" in the upper left corner of the page for the census results in the area.

Wait until Feb. 15-17 and you can take in the Balde Eagle Festival (the "balde" spelling dates to the 1700s) — http://www.eaglefestival.com/ — in the area of Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in central Washington. They say the winter population of the birds in the area is "upwards of 300." For more information on the area, the Grand Coulee Dam Chamber of Commerce — http://www.grandcouleedam.org/ — has links to places to stay and recreation in the area.

Elsewhere in the Northwest, try the Winter Wings Festivals — http://www.winterwingsfest.org/ — at Klamath Falls, Ore., for eagles and other birds attracted to the Klamath Basin in south-central Oregon and northern California. The organizers say the area has the largest winter concentration of bald eagles in the Lower 48 states. For places to stay and links to other informative Web sites, click on "Resources."

In the Midwest, stretches of the Mississippi River that remain unfrozen provide numerous gathering places for eagles and watchers. The Mississippi River Project has an outline — http://tinyurl.com/2o7the — of spots and events along the Iowa and Illinois riverbanks. There are more eagle-watching spots in Illinois — http://www.greatriverroad.com/Eagles/eagleViews.htm — including Pere Marquette State Park, Illinois biggest state park, and the Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge.

Minnesota boasts the highest number of nesting pairs of bald eagles in the 48 contiguous states, with counts of more than 1,300, and some of them spend the winter in the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge — http://www.fws.gov/midwest/uppermississippiriver/ — stretching from Moline, Ill., up to Wabasha, Minn. The National Eagle Center — http://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/ — based at Wabasha, has sketchy tips under "Where to See Eagles." Unless you're driving the 70 miles from Minneapolis-St. Paul, Wabasha — http://www.wabashamn.org/ — has places to stay.

Don"t ignore the heavily populated Northeast. Essex, Conn., is the home of the popular Connecticut Audubon Society's Eagle Festival, Feb. 16-18 — http://www.ctaudubon.org/about/eaglefestival.htm — and they advertise eagle-watching boat tours. For your time there, the Connecticut River Valley & Shoreline Region — http://www.ctrivervalley.com/ — will fill you in on other things to see and do in and around Essex.

Farther south, there are enough bald eagles to make Rains County the Eagle Capital of Texas, with an unofficial count of 50 of the birds last winter at Lake Fork. Drive a short distance east of Dallas to their Eagle Fest at Emory, Texas — http://www.eaglefest.org/ — where you can join boat and bus field trips, demonstrations and lectures. Click on "Eagle Watching Tours" for tips including taking along cold-weather clothing, just in case. Unless you're staying in the Dallas area, they have links to local motels, lodges and marinas. If you are driving back to Dallas, that city's Visitors Bureau — http://www.dallascvb.com/visitors/ — has what you need to know on everything from flights to shopping (click on "Visitor Resources").

Wait, there's more. The magazine of the National Wildlife Federation put together a list of 10 great eagle-watching spots — http://tinyurl.com/2j6v4v — including more places in the Northwest, Northeast and the Plains.