Eagle Tour User Guide

 

Where Are the Eagles Now? Find Out Here:

See the Eagle Roost Counts

 

Self-guided Bald Eagle Winter Watching Tour in the Lower Wisconsin Riverway

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 primarily along the Lower Wisconsin River from Prairie du Sac to Lone Rock, a distance of 32 river miles.  Within this corridor, eagles move extensively up and down the riverway depending upon environmental conditions.  To improve your eagle viewing, learn about how to predict these movements so that you can determine which of two tours to take: Sauk Prairie (i.e. ‘up river’) or Mazomanie to Lone Rock (i.e. ‘down river’).

Eagles gather along the Lower Wisconsin River and the 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 for eagles to sleep at night. Forested river shorelines allow for undisturbed perching while looking for food to float by, and agricultural lands provide open space where carrion can be consumed safely while eagles are  on the ground. All four of these habitat elements combined allow eagles to concentrate along the Lower Wisconsin from Prairie du Sac to Lone Rock during winter.

In winter, these habitat attributes are dynamic because snow comes and goes as does ice cover on the river, both of which determine the availability of fish and carrion.  Typically, when ice is abundant on the river, or snow is deep in agricultural areas, eagles concentrate their activities from the Prairie du Sac Dam to the river area near Mazomanie because the dam keeps that stretch of river open. During warmer winter weather, when little ice is found on the river or snow has melted in agricultural areas, few eagles use the up river stretch.  Instead, eagles shift to using areas along the river from Mazomanie to Lone Rock.  

To have the most success in viewing eagles, pay attention to the conditions around you to estimate where you should seek eagles. If the river is full of ice, visit the up river sections. If the river is open, visit the down river sections. You can also examine the roost count data under the research tab on this website to see where our stalwart roost counters have tallied eagles flying into their communal night roosts.

Follow one of the two URLs below to self-guided tours that identify good viewing areas.  One tour is located up river in the Sauk Prairie area and one tour is located down river in the Mazomanie to Lone Rock stretch of river.  Both tour sections can be started from the Sauk Prairie Area Chamber of Commerce office.

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.