Hikes, new boat tours added to Eagle Exp0

Carrie Stansbury’s connection with the Eagle Expo began before there was an Eagle Expo.
Atchafalaya Basin Heritage efforts were ramping up in the early 2000s. Stansbury, executive director of the Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau staff, attended a lot of committee meetings. At one of them, a professor told her, “Did you know St. Mary Parish has one of the largest populations of bald eagles?”
Even nonbirders know that bald eagles are a big deal. Not only are they a national symbol, but they’ve made a remarkable comeback because of environmental and conservation efforts. From a low of 487 breeding pairs in the lower 48 states in 1963, they’d rebounded to more than 6,400 pairs by the time Stansbury began rounding up birders for the first Eagle Expo, according to statistics from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
That was in February 2006. She said that about 30 eagle-watchers rolled from site to site by school bus. At this year’s Eagle Expo, which runs Thursday through Saturday, Stansbury can expect 100 to 150 participants for what have become the traditional lectures and boat tours through canals and bayous near Morgan City.
This year, there will be something new: hikes and boat tours at the federal Bayou Teche Wildlife Refuge near Centerville.
You can find out more at www.cajuncoast.com. There is a fee for the boat tours and the Saturday morning seminars at the Petroleum Club. Boat tour availability tends to be limited.
Sponsorships help keep the cost of the registrations down, Stansbury said.
“Thank goodness for our sponsors,” she said.
They include B&G of local Taco Bell fame, Conrad Shipyard, the Audubon Society, the Atchafalaya Basin Heritage Area and Louisiana Seafood, all of which have donated cash or extended grants. Other sponsors have made in-kind donations.
The schedule includes:
Thursday
6:30 p.m. Wings to Soar at the Patterson Civic Center, a presentation that includes a hawk, a falcon, a black vulture and a bald eagle.
Friday
Photography Work-shop with CC Lockwood; separate registration form required.
Minimum of 10 students and maximum of 16, requires separate registration and payment.
Lockwood will share tips on how to capture the American Bald Eagle and other wildlife. Workshop includes class instruction and field trip. 225-769-4766, cactusclyd@aol.com; msrafttrip@aol.com; CC Lockwood
Boat Tours - Friday
9 a.m. – Boat Tour - Captain Ivy
10 a.m. – Boat tour into the Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge*
Noon – Boat tour into the Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge*
1 p.m. – Boat Tour -Choose tour with Captain Ivy, Captain John or LUMCON
*Will probably not see eagles on boat tour, but will see other wildlife.
Dinner and Presentation – 6:30 p.m., Petroleum Club of Morgan City
Bryan Piazza, Director of the Freshwater and Marine Science of the Nature Conservancy and author of “The Atchafalaya River Basin - History and Ecology of an American Wetland” will discuss the Atchafalaya River Basin, the largest river swamp in the US, its conservation and restoration. **additional cost
Saturday
Speakers & Breakfast, Petroleum Club of Morgan City
7 to 7:30 a.m. - Breakfast, Petroleum Club of Morgan City
7:30 a.m. to noon - Seminars with guest speakers, Petroleum Club of Morgan City
7:30 a.m.: Michael Seymour - Status of Louisiana’s Bald Eagles
8:30 a.m.: Maggie McPherson - Surfing the Heat Wave or the Green Wave: How Will Different Types of Migrants Track Seasonal Resources in a Changing Climate?
9:30 a.m.: Cathy DiSalvo - Birds and How to Attract them to Your Yard
10:30 a.m.: LSU Raptor Program - Case Studies and resident birds
Boat Tour – Tour with Captain John - 9 a.m.
Walking/Hiking Trail on the Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge - 10 a.m.
Boat Tour(s) with Captain John, Captain Billy, Captain Ivy and LUMCON - 2:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., respectively
Walking/Hiking Trail on Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge – 2 p.m.