(KLZA) Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge announces the annual Eagle Days celebration scheduled for Saturday, December 1, and Sunday, December 2, 2012.  This will be the 34th consecutive year for this very popular event.  Eagle Days is a cooperative venture with Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) combined with other partners such as Friends of Squaw Creek, Missouri Western State University’s Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society,  Midland Empire Audubon Society, and Missouri Department of Transportation.
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING CHANGES FOR THIS YEAR’S EAGLE DAYS EVENT AND BUS TOUR SCHEDULE:
Eagle shows on Saturday, December 1, 2012 will be from 9AM to 3PM, every hour on the hour.
NEW HOURS for the Eagle Shows on Sunday, December 2, 2012 will be from 11AM to 2PM, every hour on the hour.
NEW HOURS for the free guided bus tours on Sunday, December 2nd will be from 10AM to 3PM.
A free shuttle bus will be available at the Squaw Creek Eagles Nest Truck stop parking lot located on the corner of Highway 159 and Exit 79 near Interstate-29 on Saturday only from 8:30 AM to 4PM.
The Dickerson Park Zoo, from Springfield, Missouri, will bring captive eagles for special programs and live shows which will be held in the refuge maintenance building beginning each hour     starting at 9AM on Saturday and 11AM on Sunday.  There will also be a number of special eagle exhibits in the refuge visitor contact station.  Volunteers will staff eagle viewing stations with spotting scopes along the refuge auto tour route to help visitors see bald eagles and other wildlife on the refuge.  Refuge staff and volunteers will give guided bus tours along the auto tour route both days.  Bus tours will leave from the visitor contact station.  An eagle video, Where Eagles Soar, will be shown in the auditorium complimenting many exhibits for children and adults.  Visitors will have the opportunity to support Friends of Squaw Creek by shopping at the nature store and concession stand from 9AM to 4PM on both Saturday and Sunday. The Midland Empire Audubon Society will be selling wild bird seed and feeders.    All presentations and exhibits are free to the public.
 At this time, Squaw Creek’s water conditions are currently low, but there are more than a 70 bald eagles and over 200,000 snow geese on the refuge and those numbers could increase over the next week as Eagle Days approaches.  Eagle Days’ alternate parking for passenger cars and groups will be provided at the Squaw Creek Eagles Nest Truck Stop which is located on the corner of Highway 159 and Exit 79 off of I-29, just 3 miles away.  A free shuttle bus will be available on Saturday only from the alternate parking lot to the Eagle Days event.  For current bird survey numbers or questions about programs at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge, please visit our website at http://www.fws.gov/refuge/squaw_creek/ or call (660) 442-3187.  Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge is located five miles south of Mound City and 30 miles northwest of St. Joseph, Missouri.  Visitors can take I-29 to Exit 79, then 2 ½ miles west on Highway 159 to the refuge.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 100-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 550 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 fishery resource offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species
Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitats such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts.
For further information about programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our national website at: http://midwest.fws.gov.  The Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge website is: www.fws.gov/midwest/squawcreek.