With colder temperatures settling in and the calendar year coming to an end, it’s time for the living symbol of America’s freedom and spirit to make its annual appearance both in the wild and at Eagle Days events at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge and Smithville Lake.

This will be the 30th anniversary of Eagle Days at Squaw Creek, near Mound City, Mo. The refuge will host its event on Dec. 6 and 7 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day and feature hourly programs from The World Bird Sanctuary of St. Louis and its captive eagles and other birds.

The event also will have a large number of exhibits in the refuge visitor station from local wildlife agencies and others.

For those wanting to see eagles in the wild, volunteers with spotting scopes will staff eagle viewing stations along the auto tour route throughout the refuge to help visitors see the magnificent creatures.

Refuge staff members also will be giving guided bus tours starting from the visitor contact station out along the 10-mile auto tour route. The tours will include a special eagle video showing. All presentations and exhibits are free to the public.

Current conditions for seeing eagles and other waterfowl are excellent at Squaw Creek. A survey done this past week showed there were more than 60 eagles already at the refuge. With the number of geese increasing daily, bald eagle numbers should continue to rise.

By the first week of December, the refuge normally sees more than 250 eagles in the area.

For more information about the Squaw Creek Eagle Days event, call (660) 442-3187 or go online to www.fws.gov/midwest/squawcreek or to www.squawcreek.org.

The refuge is located 5 miles south of Mound City and 30 miles northwest of St. Joseph. Visitors can take Interstate 29 to exit 79. Then it’s 2 1/2 miles west on Highway 159 to reach the refuge.

Smithville Lake

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Clay County Parks Department and the Missouri Department of Conservation also will offer a two-day Eagle Days event on Jan. 10 and 11 at the Little Platte Park Course Complex.

Their event will feature live eagle programs given by Operation Wildlife along with eagle videos, activities, information booths and displays from various organizations.

Spotting scopes will be set up at the best viewing areas on the lake and conservation agents. Clay County park rangers and federal park rangers will be available to assist visitors. The event staff suggest participants bring cameras, binoculars and scopes and dress warm for outside viewing.

The Smithville events run from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Times for the live eagle program are 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

The live eagle shows fill up fast at this event, so free advance tickets for these programs will be available for reservation or pickup as of Dec. 1. Call (816) 532-0174 for more information or tickets or log onto www.nwk.usace.army.mil/sm/.

This year marks the 12th year for the Eagle Days at the lake, said deputy director Mike Kaullen of the Clay County Parks Department.

“People are still amazed to see the American icon and the thought of being a couple of feet away from a live eagle sparks a lot of interest,” he said.

Kaullen estimated that more than 1,100 people will attend the event if the weather cooperates.