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Description

Eagles wintering along the Lower Wisconsin Riverway form the largest Bald Eagle winter population that resides entirely within Wisconsin. Although the Lower Wisconsin Riverway extends from the dam at Prairie du Sac to the junction of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers, eagles winter along the Lower Wisconsin River primarily from Prairie du Sac to Lone Rock, a distance of 32 river miles, and they also move extensively up and down this corridor. Eagles gather along the Lower Wisconsin River and adjoining agricultural lands in winter. This convocation of eagles is possible because the dam at Prairie du Sac keeps a significant portion of the Wisconsin River from freezing. Of equal importance, traditional communal roosts occur in bluffs located adjacent to the river and provide a safe place where eagles sleep at night. Undeveloped river shoreline allows for undisturbed feeding and agricultural lands provide open space where carrion can be found. All four of these habitat elements combined allow eagles to concentrate along the Lower Wisconsin from Lone Rock to Prairie du Sac during winter. To improve your chances of seeing eagles, whether eagles are located mostly up or down river, we have split the self-guided tour by respective maps into an Upper Wisconsin River Wintering Eagle Watch Tour and a Lower Wisconsin River Wintering Eagle Watch Tour. Here are links to the two tours: Upper Wisconsin River Wintering Eagle Watch Tour: https://theclio.com/tour/1721 Lower Wisconsin River Wintering Eagle Watch Tour: https://theclio.com/tour/2391 The tour is broken into two parts by maps because eagles sometimes concentrate mostly up-river and sometimes concentrate mostly down river. Please see the Ferry Bluff Eagle Council Facebook page at https://ferrybluffeaglecouncil.org/research/roost-count/ for recommendations on which tour to take based on where the most eagles are located at any given time during the winter. Suggested driving routes from one tour stop to the next are shown on the tours, but feel free to visit tour stops in any order. Both tour sections can be started from the Sauk Prairie Area Chamber of Commerce office. See the Chamber of Commerce tour stop for directions on how to get there. Typically, when ice is abundant on the river or snow is deep in agricultural areas, eagles can be found primarily from the Prairie du Sac Dam to the river area near Mazomanie. During warmer weather, when little ice is found on the river or snow in agricultural areas, few eagles use the upriver stretch and concentrate along the river from Mazomanie to Lone Rock. Pay attention to the conditions around you to estimate where you should go to view the most eagles. If the river is full of ice, visit the upriver sections (Tour 1). If the river is mostly open, visit the downriver sections (Tour 2). At any time, enjoy your viewing of eagles and appreciate just how dynamic eagle distribution can be in winter! Note that you are outside in winter so please dress accordingly.