Michael,
I was also up on the Skagit on the weekend of the Eagle Festival. I
knew it was late in the season for the Eagles up there but still when
someone showed up with his information stuff, I couldn't resist asking
why they would advertise after the Eagles were gone. He said they
didn't want all the people up there during the peak of the season so
they wouldn't disturb the birds. I thought to myself, why would anyone
come to an Eagle festival if they couldn't see the birds? Would you come
to a Strawberry festival after the Strawberries are gone? The peak of
the Eagle season up there is traditionally the second or third week of
January. This year, I heard they were a little earlier. The festival is
usually the end of the month or the first of February.

Yvonne Bombardier
Everett, Wa
ravenn at premier1.net
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Michael Price wrote:
> Steve Mansfield writes:
>
> >Rose and I went up around Rockport, WA to see eagles and get some other
> >birding in as well. The local news reports about the Bald Eagle festival
> >on the new recently failed to mention that most of the eagles are *gone* by
> >the time the festival starts (this is intentional).
>
> Umm, Steve, being a birder of very little brain, I'm assuming the people
> running the festival know what they're doing by waiting until the eagles are
> gone before holding an eagle festival (Hey folks, ya shoulda bin here a
> month ago! Up ta the wallet in 'em!), but could you shed some light on the
> reasoning behind their timing? It seems counter-intuitive on the face of it.
> What am I missing?
>
> Or am I misunderstanding, and it's the omission in the reporting of the fact
> the eagles are gone beforehand that's intentional? I'm confused, but that's
> nothing new.