The Lake Today

Editor’s Note: Now in our fourth year, The Lake Today staff wanted to put a new spin on its human interest feature section. “Leaving a Lake Legacy” will highlight different individuals, organizations, places or events that truly make a footprint on Lake Area soil. Their stories may be told through their daily routine, through pictures or simply through their words. If you know someone or something that helps make the Lake Area special and form a true legacy to the region, email editor@thelaketoday.com or call 573-365-2827.

Television was not a form of entertainment for Ted Windels until he was 7 years old. Until that time, nature was his true companion.

“I was outside all the time when I was a kid. When we got a TV, I watched a lot of nature shows, and still do,” he said.

His bond with nature formed into a true passion. He has developed into an avid bird watcher, became a Master Naturalist last year and volunteered for the first time at the popular, regionally known Annual Lake of the Ozarks Eagle Days last weekend. His job was one he was well suited for – helping visitors spot eagles at the Bagnell Dam access on the Osage River in Lake Ozark.

On Saturday morning, Windels and his fellow Master Naturalist volunteers spotted six eagles alone. However, Windels’ greatest joy came in assisting children and their families beam with excitement and explode with questions after seeing these majestic American symbols enjoy their natural habitat below Bagnell Dam.

“I am hopeful there will be young people there and they get excited about seeing these birds,” he said before Eagles 2012 took flight Saturday and Sunday. “We hope we can help them learn the difference between a turkey vulture, a hawk and an eagle. I plan on bringing pads and pencils and will encourage them to start their own live bird list.”

Windels’ wish came to fruition, watching many children smile as they peered through binoculars at both young and adult eagles in flight above the Bagnell Dam Access over the weekend. Like Windels, all the Master Naturalists who make up the crux of the volunteer force at Eagles Days assist in not only making sure the event goes off without a hitch. They encourage visitors to be more recognizant, appreciative and enthused about how significant eagles and all of the region’s creatures and environment are to Lake of the Ozarks.

Volunteering their expertise

Missouri Master Naturalist Lake of the Ozarks chapter has co-sponsored Eagle Days for the last three years along with major sponsors, Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitor Bureau and Osage National Golf Resort.

About 25 volunteers from the Master Naturalist local chapter have logged in 200-plus volunteer hours to assist in various activities during Eagle Days 2012, according to Master Naturalist Joann Billington. The major highlights of the program includes live eagles from the World Bird Sanctuary with naturalists on hand to answer questions at Osage National Golf Resort; interactive exhibits, crafts, a coloring contest and bird watching at Willmore Lodge; and wild eagle watching below Bagnell Dam at the Osage River access.

With initial visitor counts exceeding 500 by noon Saturday at the various locations, Master Naturalist and Eagle Days 2012 “meet and greet” volunteer at Willmore Lodge, Carolyn Solomon, also noted that visitors were coming from beyond the Lake of the Ozarks region, which has been a normal statistic for the past several years.

“I have seen people from various parts of mid-Missouri, Jefferson City, Independence and beyond. We have also seen folks from Illinois, Kansas, Georgia and Colorado,” she said. “We have seen just hundreds come visit here because of the viewing and participation in the Coloring Contest. Everyone is having a wonderful time and enjoying all the activities during this event.”

From “meeting and greeting” like Solomon and bird watching like Windels setting up equipment and directing traffic, the master naturalists assist in many different aspects of the event.

For three years, Master Naturalist Eric Davis has helped in bird watching on the deck of Willmore Lodge during Eagle Days to setting up tents and burn barrels below Bagnell Dam and parking cars at Willmore Lodge, as he did this year.

“When the Missouri Department of Conservation had to cutback about a half dozen of its locations for eagle watching during this time around the state of Missouri the Lake Area didn’t know if they could continue it. However with the Convention and Visitor Bureau and Lake Area Chamber doing a lot of the ‘heavy lifting’ to keep it going, and assistance by Osage National (Golf Resort) and the volunteer efforts of the Master Naturalist Lake Are chapter, we have continued this wonderful event,” he said. “However, I must add that even though the Missouri Department of Conservation may list the Lake as one of its locations, they still give us a variety of materials on eagles and other supplies to hand out to visitors and assist with the event. They are still involved and we thank them for their efforts.”

For Master Naturalists like Davis, they also see their time spent at Eagle Days an opportunity to encourage those intrigued by nature to get involved in their local chapter.

“We have gained membership to the Master Naturalist program since sponsoring this event; it’s been a plus for us,” he said. “We donate our time, enjoy ourselves and find new members.”

Davis added that they are currently looking to add 25-30 people to their chapter and were encouraged to find some interested parties at Eagle Days who may want to sign up for the next Master Naturalist class.

The Missouri Master Naturalist program is a community-based, adult natural resource education and volunteer program designed to engage Missourians in the stewardship of our state’s natural resources. The 50-hour course will teach participants about Missouri’s natural resource ecology and management. After graduation participants are asked to provide 40 hours of volunteer service on land management, citizen science, education, and other conservation related projects in the local community and achieve eight hours of continued education annually.

The next Master Naturalist certification training course starts with an orientation on Monday, Feb. 13, 2012 from 6-8 p.m. at the MO Department of Conservation Office in Camdenton. Classes will then commence on February 27 and run through May 21.

“We look for people who have an interest in Missouri ecology,” Davis added. “That is what being a master naturalist is all about, and we hope to gain another group of members that enjoy discovering the unique natural aspects of Missouri.”

Watch and learn

Aside from informing Eagle Days visitors about the Master Naturalist program, Davis said he, like Windels, enjoys teaching visitors about the eagles.

“In the past, I have helped direct the overlook area at Willmore Lodge. Last year, it was so darn cold that people couldn’t manage to stay out for more than a few minutes. However, there were some eagles to see,” he explained. “I enjoy telling them about the eagle’s history and the Eagle Protection efforts in the U.S. We like telling them about how the eagle is encouraged to make a comeback.”

Thanks to the Camden County Astronomy Club, visitors had a variety of telescopes to get an even closer view wild eagles soaring about the Lake’s main channel outside Willmore Lodge last weekend.

“At past events, we have witnessed 10-12 eagles in a big tree below Bagnell Dam as well. It is great to help visitors spot these birds and answer questions about them as they see them in their natural state,” he said.

Davis also said the volunteers have helped assist children coloring their entries into the Eagle Days Coloring Contest, which is co-sponsored by the Lake of the Ozarks Eagle Days committee and The Lake Today. Not only do they hang up their creative eagle entries, but they answer the child’s questions about how the eagle looks, what they prey on and eat and environment’s they live in to best represent their submitted colored page.

“Last year during the first coloring contest, we had three brown crayons, and typically most eagles are brown in color. So, we had red eagles, green eagles, blue eagles,” Davis said with a laugh. “However, this year, the CVB made sure they had four dozen brown crayons available; kudos to them.”

All joking aside, the children did learn about the eagles last year and this year during that activity, many of them creating eagles holding fish in their mouths, being by rivers or nesting in a tree – much to the thanks and assisted education of the naturalists volunteering for this activity.

Eagle’s eye view on nature

As Windels offered education in where to spot eagles below Bagnell Dam during this year’s event, he not only encouraged guests to track their own bird list but also told them important tips in bird watching at the river or even at home.

“I started a record of birds at my home, cataloging 40-plus different birds including bald eagles in my own yard. The Lake Area is a wonderful place to bird watch,” he said. “At the viewing station below Bagnell Dam, we’ll see eagles fish and soar up and down the river. This allows us to tell the success story of the eagle. But it also gives us the opportunity to tell what an eagle is not such as a turkey vulture or red-tailed hawk, which you often see below the dam.”

The whole experience put Windels in his favorite element – nature. It allowed him to encourage children to be more in-tune with the outdoors, educated visitors on eagles and other birds, and allowed he and his fellow Master Naturalists to discuss their projects and programs such as taking hikes, identifying ecological aspects of certain Lake terrains and water quality testing. It was a time where the true entertainment of the weekend was rooted the Lake’s natural setting.

“There is a lot of people that come to this event, and it allows us to talk to people about how they interact with their environments. The Lake Area is a great place to view eagles, and it gives us a great opportunity to help them spot these birds,” he said. “Plus, with activities like this, it truly gets you out in nature. Like being a master naturalist, you connect back with nature.”

For more information about Lake of the Ozarks Eagle Days, visit www.lakeoftheozarkseagledays.com.

For more information about the Missouri Master Naturalist Lake of the Ozarks chapter and its upcoming class, call Jackie Rasmussen at 573-346-2644, email rasmussenj@missouri.edu or visit http://lakeozarkmasternaturalist.com.