LE CLAIRE, Iowa — The city of LeClaire welcomed some feathered friends into town, including our nation's symbol.
The community held its inaugural Eagle Fest Jan. 21 and 22 downtown. The weekend-long event included eagle ice sculpting, speakers, and a unique appearance of three eagles, including a bald eagle.
The St. Louis-based World Bird Sanctuary gave live eagle presentations.
"It is really important that people know about the eagles," LeClaire Tourism Manager, Cindy Bruhn said.
Part of the festivities focused on conservation efforts about how to safely welcome eagles into a community.
"Especially upriver on the Mississippi, we see them in numbers that we haven't had before," Living Lands and Waters Vice President Dan Breidenstein said.
Breidenstein also spoke about how Living Lands and Waters is taking steps to create a safer environment for the birds.
"Not only removing all the trash from the riverbanks and everything, but also planting the trees there to end up building more of the habitat for the eagles to nest in," Breidenstein said.
The public also got a chance to learn how to help create a safer eagle habitat.
"Not only just appreciating these beautiful birds and everything, but to cut down on the single use plastics," Breidenstein said. "That's how we're finding them in the river. Even if it's not being directly thrown in there, but just the streets, the storm drains, the overflowing trash cans. Every little bit makes a difference."
The event also included eagle watching along the Mississippi River.