Eagle Day open house planned at Chautauqua NWR

Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge will host an Eagle Day open house from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 11.

The open house will be held in conjunction with the annual Eagle Day Festival will be held at Dickson Mounds Museum near Lewistown, The Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon Preserve and Havana riverfront.

As a part of the open house, the refuge auto tour route will be open to allow visitors to observe bald eagles and other wildlife.

The auto tour route will begin at Eagle Bluff Public Access Area and proceed on the levee around the South Pool, ending at the refuge headquarters (approximately 7 miles).

No passing or parking is allowed on the levee road except in designated pull off areas.

Refreshments will be available at refuge headquarters at the conclusion of the tour. Refuge staff will be on hand to greet visitors and answer questions.

Currently most of the pools are frozen, however eagles can be observed sitting on the ice or resting in trees overlooking the pools.

For more information, call refuge manager Lee Albright or assistant manager Ron Fisher at (309) 535-2290.

In the event of a weather cancellation, a notice will be available at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/IllinoisRiver/events.html.

For more information on activities at Dickson Mounds, Emiquon and the Havana riverfront, visit: http://experienceemiquon.com/content/eagle-day-festival.