Are There Eagles at Eagle Ridge?

Each year, guests to our Galena hotel observe majestic bald eagles thanks to Bald Eagle Bus Tours. The Eagle Nature Foundation sponsors four-hour bus tours, which depart from Galena, IL on selected Saturday mornings for the purpose of observing wintering bald eagles along the Upper Mississippi River.

The tour guide is researcher, author and speaker, Terrence Ingram, who has studied and photographed bald eagles for more than 45 years. On numerous occasions, he has counted more than 1,500 bald eagles in a single day along the Mississippi River. Mr. Ingram was named an Illinois Environmental Hero in 2006 by Illinois' Lieutenant Governor, Pat Quinn. Guests to our Galena hotel are sure to be impressed by the breadth of his knowledge.

Not far from our Galena hotel, bald eagles winter in large numbers along the Upper Mississippi River during the winter months. Thus, Eagle Nature Foundation Tour participants during past years have spotted anywhere from five to 300 of these bald eagles during a single bus tour.

Bald eagles were officially declared an endangered species in 1967 the United States. This changed in 1995, when their status was downgraded to a less dangerous “threatened” status. Now the bald eagle is close to being off the “threatened” list completely. Thus, guests to our Galena hotel who opt to take this tour will have even more to see in the future.

Bald eagles are often observed soaring, fishing, nesting and perching overhead. On the tour, various active bald eagle nests are watched from a distance, so as not to disturb the nesting adults. These nests raised a total of seven young eaglets in 1999.

The Bald Eagle Bus Tour visits several different communities of wintering bald eagles. Their daily feeding habits, migration movements and life history, as well as survival problems are presented for Galena hotel guests' information and enjoyment.

Galena Hotel

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