Hello,
Sorry it has been so long since the last post! The Peregrine release went well! The male Apollo stayed around for about a week after release while his sister Artemis hung around for three weeks. I hope they survive the trek to South America and if they make it, should return in a few years. We plan to release a couple more birds this year and at least one will be carrying satellite telemetry.
Meanwhile, it is 2020 and we have several upcoming public presentations. The first is at Lake Barkley State Resort Park near Cadiz, Kentucky. We will be there for their Eagle Weekend
https://parks.ky.gov/calendar/details/lake--barkley-state-resort-park--eagle-weekend-2020/76738/ Our presentation is at 7:00 CST at the Lodge.
Our next presentations are at Reelfoot Lake State Park On February 1, 2020
https://tnstateparks.com/events/details/#/?event=live-birds-of-prey-with-john-and-dales-stokes1
at their 16th Annual Eagle Festival. We have shows at 2 and 7 p.m. CST. This is one of our longest running yearly programs. With the exception of 2002 and 2003, I (John) have conducted programs there since 1980. One of the most memorable times was on January 20, 1985. I drove up from Memphis in a blizzard, arrived late for the show and did a program for around 100 captive audience members at Airpark Inn. The next morning we awoke to -15 F! The heater core in my car had frozen, so the trip back to Memphis included stops about every twenty minutes or so to warm our feet. It was around -10F when we made it to Memphis. This turned out to be the balmiest temperature in Tennessee that day...across the state in Knoxville it was -24 F! The forecast for next weekend, 2/1/2020, looks a lot better than this!
For two weekends in a row, we will be at Lake Guntersville State Park in Alabama
https://www.alapark.com/parks/lake-guntersville-state-park . The first weekend, 2/8, we will have one presentation at 2 p.m. CST in the Park's Lodge. Come early for a good seat. The second weekend we will have two presentations on 2/15 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. We will be in a smaller room for these shows so also show up early for a good seat.
In between the two Guntersville weekends, we will be in Morgan City, Louisiana for the Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau's 15th Annual Eagle Expo
https://www.cajuncoast.com/event/15th-annual-eagle-expo and will have a program on February 13th at Bayou Vista Civic Center. Show time is at 7 p.m. CST.
In March, we will be at Wheeler Refuge Visitor's Center in Decatur, Alabama
https://www.fws.gov/wheeler/education/vc.html for two programs on March 7. Showtimes are at 11, and 1 CST.
Next up are two trips to The National Eagle Center in beautiful Wabasha, Minnesota. We will be doing programs on March 14th and 15th and return on March 28th and 29th. This is in conjunction with their annual Soar With The Eagle's Weekends
https://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/soar-with-the-eagles/ There will be two program daily on 3/14-15 and 3/28-29/2020. This is one of our favorite places to do programs and if you are ever in SE Minnesota, drop in and see this cool place!
Well, that finally has us caught up through March. If you wish to schedule a program,\e-mail at
s.o.a.r.south@hotmail.com or call 423-605-8917. Thanks for checking in!
Dale and John
