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Alton Eagle Season Begins Jan. 7 With Alton-Audubon Eagle Festival
Alton kicks off Eagle watching season with the Alton-Audubon Eagle Festival, Saturday, Jan. 7. During the annual winter migration of the American Bald Eagle every January, as many as 1,000 bald eagles migrate to the area and reclaim their winter nests along the Meeting of the Great Rivers National Scenic Byway.
To celebrate the Eagles’ return, The Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Center along with the Audubon Center at Riverlands will host the Alton-Audubon Eagle Festival, Saturday, Jan. 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free family-friendly activities, eagle watching shuttle tours, and a seeing a live American Bald Eagle will be available through at the Alton Visitors Center, 200 Piasa St.
The Audubon Center at the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary, 301 Riverlands Way, West Alton will feature live regional birds of prey and offer additional activities suitable for the entire family.
The festival includes ice carvers, Ice Putt Putt contest, Plinko, spin-the-wheel, the popular ice cube crush, and other games and giveaways sponsored by regional businesses. Liberty Bank’s mascot, Sam the Eagle, will also be hand to greet visitors to downtown Alton.
The CVB will offer Eagle Watching Shuttle Tours which will provide visitors with a guided first-hand look at several eagle watching hot spots in the region. All shuttles leave from the Audubon Center at Riverlands. Argosy Casino Alton will provide the shuttles. The cost for these 45-minute tours is $5 per person and reservations may be made in advance at www.visitalton.com/shuttle. Tours begin at 10:30 a.m. and the last Eagle Watching Shuttle Tour will depart at 1:30 p.m.
Audubon Center Activities
At the Audubon Center, located across the Mississippi River, visitors can enjoy the view of the mighty river and its abundant wildlife from the comfort of the state-of-the-art Visitors Center. Multiple spotting scopes are available for use and everyone will be able to have an up-close and personal look at the area’s Birds of Prey presented by TreeHouse Wildlife Center. Representatives of area attractions and conservation organizations will also be at the center hosting family-friendly activities. Chances are visitors will get to see the hundreds of Trumpeter Swans who make the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary their winter home. All activities at the Audubon Center are free.
The weekend also kicks off the annual Alton Eagle Watcher T-Shirt Giveaway, which is open to eagle watchers of all ages. The T-shirt giveaway encourages visitors to stop by the various Eagle Watching Hot Spots. Visitors go to five of the ten hot spots listed, have their card initialed by a representative of that site, and, while supplies last, receive a free eagle T-shirt by returning a completed card to the Alton Visitors Center. The T-shirt contest is sponsored in part by Alton Memorial Hospital and Phillips 66. For more information on this contest and the events every weekend, go to www.VisitAlton.com/EagleWatcher,
www.VisitAlton.com/Seasons/Eagle or see the Eagle Watcher’s Guide or Alton Eagle Watching App.
Eagle Watchers Updates
For the latest eagle watching updates or to receive your free Eagle Watcher’s Guide, call 1-800-ALTON-IL or go to www.VisitAlton.com. The Alton Eagle Watching App is available for iPhone and Android. It leads visitors to the eagle watching hot spots, provide information on upcoming events and festivals, allow visitors to share their eagle photos, offer deals from restaurants and shops, as well as locates shops, restaurants, attractions and lodging along the byway.
Events take place nearly every weekend and throughout the week, from January through March. Plus, most of the events in the region are free of charge. A full list of events can be found online at www.VisitAlton.com/Seasons/Eagle. For visitors who would like to make eagle watching a winter getaway, there are numerous eagle packages and specials available at hotels and bed & breakfast inns in Alton, Grafton and Elsah.
Eagle watching hotspots are Pere Marquette State Park, Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge, Alton Visitor Center, Audubon Center at Riverlands, National Great Rivers Museum, Lewis & Clark Confluence Tower, Lewis & Clark State Historic Site, Columbia Bottom Conservation Area, and the Grafton Visitor Center.
