EAGLES ON IOWA SHORES

Last night on my way home it was raining & lightening.  An odd thing indeed considering it was January 1st.   Many North American Indian tribes believe the THUNDERBIRD, or mythical SUPER EAGLE is responsible for creating lightening and thunder by flapping its wings.  With so many BALDEAGLES (a.k.a.: Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in this area of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER, their explanation is not too far-fetched.  For having a scientific mind, I know how thunder and lightening are technically created, but the Indians’ version sounds more intriguing.

Many of you may be marveling at the site of a BALD EAGLE these past several weeks.  If so, give a round of applause to DR. CHARLES WURSTER.  Back in 1970 he helped ban DDT which was proven to cause many birds to have thin-shelled eggs resulting in lower numbers of offspring.  DDT is dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane.  It was developed to stamp out insect borne diseases and kill lice as well as grasshoppers and other insects that could wipe out a crop overnight.  Dr. Wurster “wrote the key affidavit in a...1970 lawsuit…that halted the dumping of DDT in California waters.”  This is according to “SOLUTIONS”, the newsletter of www.environmentaldefense.com.  The November-December 2004, Volume 35, Number 6 version has more information.  Bald Eagles as well as ospreys and peregrine falcons were saved from extinction because of the final banning in 1972 of DDT.

RACHEL CARSON's book SILENT SPRING  published in 1962 by Houghton Mifflin Company of New York, New York, goes into great detail about DDT.  The effects it had on humans and  animals is staggering.  Today, some officials want it brought back in use here in the United States, and it is actually being used by other countries that have no or very little environmental controls...  Now back to the Eagle.

The Bald Eagle is one of over 100 birds common to IOWA.  An adult male Eagle has a dark brown-to-black body and wings set off by a pure white head and tail. It has a large, curved yellow bill and yellow feet.  The female is the same, but is slightly larger.  They can have a 7-foot wing span and are approximately 31-37 inches tall.  They usually mate for life, have 2 off-white, unmarked eggs per year, and come back to the same nest yearly which they both take part in building.  At about 4-5 years of age, the juvenile Eagle loses its white speckles and gray bill to then look like its parents.  This information and more about Eagles and other birds of IOWA can be found in BIRDS OF IOWA/FIELD GUIDE by STAN TEKIELA (second printing 2000, published by Adventure Publications, Inc.)

Locally, next weekend SATURDAY, JANUARY 8th and SUNDAY, JANUARY 9th, get thee to the BALD EAGLE DAYS at the QCCA EXPO CENTER, ROCK ISLAND (IL), 2621-4th AVE, 61201, (309) 788-5912.  This is across the Mississippi River from downtown Davenport.  You will come away knowing so much about Eagles and other birds, that you will dazzle your friends!  See if you can help bring your local school children.  If their budgets have been cut, help them out.  Have a bake sale Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Sell that old stamp collection you’ve enjoyed long enough.  Drive them yourself.  There is no finer reward than seeing sheer excitement and joy on the face of a child when they’ve experienced the fascination of exploration.

You can also call KEN FORDHAM of the Sierra Club  (563) 285-5856 or email him at Kford81673@aol.com for more information.  To locate Eagle events in your area of the state go to www.sierraclub.com.  Pull down IOWA then see IOWA CHAPTER EVENTS to find festivities near you.

One of the best and most beautifully photographed articles on Eagles is in the JULY 2002 publication of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.  It quotes poet WILL CARLETON from 1911: "But you were never made, as I,/On the wings of the winds to fly!/ the Eagle said."  When I look out my east windows which face the Mississippi River and listen to the Eagles screech at each other from the large tree outside, they may not understand the significance of what was done by Dr. Wurster and others to save them, but I do.

Go to  www.nationalgeographic.com to view the text and photos.


If you look closely at the IOWA flag, you will see a beautiful, soaring eagle holding a banner which proclaims, " OUR LIBERTIES WE PRIZE AND OUR RIGHTS WE WILL MAINTAIN".