Ferry Bluff Eagle Council

05/11/2026

Turn off lights tonight!!

🚨Lights Out Alert! 🚨 Tonight, an estimated 17.6 million birds will fly over Wisconsin!

We’re urging everyone to turn off or dim non-essential outdoor lights and close window shades from 11 p.m.–6 a.m. to help birds safely on their journey.

Most birds migrate at night, and light pollution can disorient them, leading to deadly window collisions. In addition to turning down the lights, you can also help by treating windows. If you’re looking for a quick fix, draw lines on your windows (no more than 2” apart) with a bar of soap or washable window markers.

A few simple steps can save countless birds, conserve energy, and protect our night skies. 🌌🐦

👉 Share this post to spread the word!

Want migration alerts sent straight to your inbox? Sign up for Cornell Lab of Ornithology BirdCast alerts through the link in the comments. BirdCast added 4 Wisconsin cities this year: Appleton, La Crosse, Madison, and Milwaukee. If you don’t live near one, choose the closest city to you.

BirdCast sends alerts only on the biggest migration nights; about 8–10 nights each season that account for roughly half of all migration traffic.

SOS Save Our Songbirds | Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance | Wisconsin Society for Ornithology - WSO | Kickapoo Valley Dark Sky Initiative | Focus on Energy

03/03/2026

Time has come and the wintering eagles are heading back to thier nesting territory and the local eagles have started to build thier families.

Thanks to all the volunteers, about 140 hours, counting the roosting eagles along the lower Wisconsin Riverway. Till next season. 👏

Photo- Debi Sergenian Wankerl

02/28/2026

A heartfelt thank you to Dianne Moller, Director of Hoo's Woods Raptor Center for bringing an incredible live raptor education program to the St. Aloysius Catholic School students yesterday.

Organized and sponsored by the Ferry Bluff Eagle Council, this special program gave students the chance to experience these amazing birds up close while learning fascinating facts about each species and what makes them so unique.

The kids were enchanted and full of questions! The stars of the program included:
🦉 Oopsie — Saw-whet Owl
🦉 Clark — Barred Owl
🦉 Wesley — Snowy Owl
🦅 Victor — Bald Eagle

We’re so grateful for partners like Hoo’s Woods who inspire curiosity, respect for wildlife, and a deeper connection to conservation in the next generation.

02/01/2026

Sending out a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came to Bald Eagle Watching Days 2026. Your support and generosity allows us to keep providing educational opportunities like this in our community.

This coming Saturday, we are holding our annual membership meeting, at 1 pm at the Tripp Heritage Museum and we are inviting you the to event. We are honored to have Curt Meine as our featured speaker discussing conservation efforts and specific conservationists along with the charismatic species they championed (including eagles).

We hope to see you there, we will have a pizza lunch, so please RSVP by Thursday (February 4th) (message us or use the link below):

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0A4FAFAE2EA57-61937369-fbec

To learn more about the speaker, Curt Meine, check this out: https://curtmeine.com/

01/31/2026

Just sharing out a post regarding eagles getting frozen.. the reports are FALSE.

Fake posts on a page falsely depict Upper Mississippi bald eagles dying from cold weather. The truth is, they are extremely resilient.

01/27/2026

Are you wondering how the eagles are doing in this cold weather in the Sauk Prairie area? The short answer is, they are built for cold weather and likely have moved a little farther south to find some open water for a food source.

Read more about this in a short article from Jeb, president of FBEC, reflecting on the roost count numbers from this past weekend. And if you find this article interesting, why not come and volunteer your time helping at our roost counts when you can observe this behavior live.

“Our recent count of 57 eagles in the Lower Wisconsin River area, three weeks after counting 157 eagles, is normal. The recent cold weather has created almost 100% ice cover from the trestle bridge in Sauk City to the Mississippi River. Ice cover on the river prevents eagles access to fish. Recent snows have also covered carrion laying in open, agricultural fields. Though food for eagles (mainly fish and dead animals) may be present, it is not available under these conditions. With extensive ice and snow cover, eagles have two behavioral options to survive: 1. They can shift from being spread out along the river from Prairie du Sac to Lone Rock (30 river miles) to being concentrated in the Sauk Prairie area (5 river miles) or 2. They can leave our area and move further south where more open water exists. Over the decades of FBEC roost counting we know that eagles choose both options, sometimes within the same year. The map below exemplifies what option 2 looks like. FBEC, working with UW-Madison, captured, radio-tagged and followed eagles captured during winter in Sauk City (red dot) and followed eagles within the Lower Wisconsin River Area by car and within the Midwest by plane. During very cold and snowy weather, such as we are experiencing now, eagles left the Lower Wisconsin River area and moved to the Mississippi River, south of its confluence with the Wisconsin River, and to other areas of northern Illinois and northern Iowa. These are, therefore, normal behaviors for eagles that are trying to survive winter in the Midwest.”

01/21/2026

Today around 80 2nd graders from Bridges Elementary school walked to the Ruth Culver Library to partake in some eagle watching along the lower Wisconsin River. We assisted with bird identification and helping the kids perfect thier binocular skills. Each group of kids had the opportunity to search for a perched Bald Eagle in a the “library tree” or watch one soar by as well was watch the ducks/geese glide around.

We are so blessed to have this amazing reaource right here in town. Thank you Ruth Culver Community Library (Prairie du Sac, WI) for hosting the field trip.

01/19/2026

01/18/2026

We have volunteeres at the Overlook today to help you spot the eagles hanging around “Eagle Island”- it’s a beautiful morning, with some Eagle action already- come out and enjoy.

509 Water Street, Prairie du sac