The 15th Annual Eagle Day was held on Saturday, March 1 in the Ferryville Village Hall. Over 150 people from as far away as Milwaukee, Watertown, Janesville, and Wisconsin Rapids, all in Wisconsin, as well as Rochester, Minn., and Scales Mound, Ill., drove to Ferryville specifically to attend this event!
Monique Gonzalez was the chairperson, and she very capably organized a group of enthusiastic volunteers from the Ferryville Tourism Council as well at the Friends of the Tourism Council. The Friends of Pool 9 were the co-sponsors once again. Bob Schmidt was the announcer who kept everyone on schedule.
The village hall was full of fun and excitement. New this year was a very friendly eagle who was available for photo ops and hugs, and even was outside several times to draw attention to the event. The costume was the idea of Tourism President, Deb Lomas, and the costume was worn all day by Deb’s daughter, Danyel Buncak.
Friends of Pool 9 had shirts and hats for sale, and Deb and Don Warren had a rack of beautiful photo cards with pictures taken by Deb in the Ferryville area for sale. One hundred percent of the money from the sale of these cards was given to the Ferryville Tourism Council for Eagle Day 2026. Deb and Don also very generously donated a photo of a Bald Eagle in flight that was printed on metal. This was raffled off as the top door prize for the day, with all proceeds going to the committee for next year’s program. Treats donated by various people were also given out throughout the day.
The wonderful program began at 10 a.m., and moved swiftly through the day with a variety of ways for the guests to learn new information about eagles and other birds that grace our area. Erica Rassmussen from the Genoa National Fish Hatchery was the first presenter. She shared about eagles, mussels, and fish, and led the children in a very organized building of a model eagle’s nest.
The live bird program this year was presented by Abbey Krumrie, who is the owner of River Valley Raptors in Buffalo City, with her husband. She gave an excellent demonstration using a barn owl, an American kestrel, and a young Golden Eagle.
Krumrie was very appropriate with information that was very interesting to the young of many ages, and all of the adults. It was a very full house listening to her. She gave information about the differences between bald eagles and golden eagles, but she also stressed that the majority of the eagles we will see around the Driftless Area will be Bald Eagles.
Krumrie is part of a research study on Golden Eagles, and the group just recently netted a Golden Eagle who was wearing a leg band put on in the state of Pennsylvania in 1992, making it the oldest Golden Eagle ever studied. The researchers fitted him with a transmitter so they can now track his movements.
Amy Ries from the Raptor Resource Project, Decorah Eagles was the next presenter. The eagles that are featured on their remote monitoring camera have two eggs, and they are supposed to be hatching some time after March 16. If you want to follow along with the nest cam, the link is https://www.raptorresource.org
The final presenter of the day was Ian McGuigan from the WDNR Duck ID Program. He explained similarities and differences between the waterfowl that frequent the Mississippi River Flyway.
The event organizing “committee is very appreciative for all the guests who drove long distances to participate, as well as the local community of SW Wisconsin and NE Iowa,” White remarked. “It is our goal to showcase the eagles and raptors who live along the river and the bluffs of our beautiful area. This Eagle Day educational event is one of the main requirements for Ferryville to be one of the 125 Bird City communities in Wisconsin. In fact, Ferryville is THE SMALLEST of the 125 Bird City communities. For us to organize and make this event happen, it takes a large number of volunteers who give very generously of their time and resources. We are proud and thankful for the large numbers of eagles and raptors who share this beautiful part of the Mississippi River with us. Next year’s Eagle Day is already being planned!”
