Happy American Eagle Day and an early National Seashell Day 2018

Happy American Eagle Day and an early National Seashell Day!  Here is the description of today's wildlife holiday from National Day Calendar.

Observed each year on June 20th is National American Eagle Day.  This day is set aside to honor our national symbol, raise awareness for protecting the Bald Eagle, assist in the recovery of their natural environments and take part in educational outreach.

The Bald Eagle is both the national bird and the national animal of the United States of America and appears on its Seal.

In the latter 20th century, the Bald Eagle was on the brink of extinction in the continental United States.  Eventually, populations recovered and on July 12, 1995, the species was removed from the U.S. Federal Government’s List of Endangered Species and transferred to the List of Threatened Species. On June 2007, it was withdrawn from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the Lower 48 States.

The Bald Eagle’s range includes most of Canada, Alaska, all of the contiguous United States and northern Mexico.  They can be found near large bodies of open water where there is an abundant food supply and old-growth trees for nesting.

Opportunistic feeders, Bald Eagles survive mainly on fish, swooping down and snatching them from the water.  Their nests are the largest nests of any North American bird and the largest tree nests ever recorded for any animal species. The largest recorded eagle’s nest was found in St. Petersburg, Florida.  It measured 9.5 feet in diameter and 20 feet deep.  It weighed in at nearly 3 tons.

The name “Bald Eagle” derives from an older meaning of “white headed” as the bird is actually not bald.  The adult eagle is mainly brown with a white head and tail.

Since I like videos, here is Dollywood Celebrates American Eagle Day from the American Eagle Foundation.

American Eagle Day is celebrated across our nation on June 20 every year. This year, it was celebrated at Dollywood on Saturday, June 16, during Chatter Reunion. In this video by WVLT, Channel 8, Laura Sterbens and Spencer Williams, along with Bald Eagle Mr. Lincoln preview the day's events.

I'm glad to see Dollywood, which I visited in 1981 when it was still Silver Dollar City, get into animal shows and conservation.  The park wasn't into such things when I visited, which was before Dolly Parton bought it.

Follow over the jump for my celebration of National Seashell Day, which I observe on the 20th regardless of the day the Summer Solstice falls because the day fell on the 20th when I first noticed it and because World Giraffe Day is always on the 21st.


Once again, I am sharing the description of the holiday from National Day Calendar.

On the first day of summer, National Seashell Day reminds us to put our toes in the sand and admire the beauty of seashells.

Shellers get ready to shellebrate and start shelling! To those not in the know, shellers are beachcombers who collect seashells by scouring the beaches for the gems left behind by snails and mollusks.  National Seashell Day is here to tell you all about it and make sure you check out your local beaches during the prime shelling season.

For a sheller, the true tulip or lettered olive is almost more mesmerizing than the ocean sunset.  Or maybe it’s the hunt for the rare or the unique specimen.  These jewels of the sandy beaches, the kings crown conch, the apple murex, or even a pear whelk dazzle beachcombers.  Their names are as musical and colorful as your adventure will be, so grab your bucket and head out around sunrise or sunset. Seashells are waiting for you!
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The Beaches of Ft. Myers & Sanibel founded National Seashell Day on the first day of summer in 2016 to celebrate seashells and the extraordinary shelling found in Southwest Florida.

I found a news report about that first National Seashell Day from Fox 4 Now in Florida.


In case the second half of the video looks familiar, it's because the pollution of Lake Okeechobee was the subject of one of the 2017 Emmy nominees for Outstanding Science, Medical and Environmental Report.  Now I'll have to add following up on the pollution of Lake Okeechobee to my list of future topics.

Stay tuned for a post about the Summer Solstice and World Giraffe Day.  Another wildlife and nature holiday!