Small community invaded by bald eagles

    Minnesota (WCCO) -- For the past week, a small community in Carver County, Minnesota, has been invaded by bald eagles.

"I've never seen that many eagles in one place, myself," said John Schauer.

Like most small towns, word travels fast in Cologne. Especially at the local watering holes.

"My husband works at Holiday, and everybody kept coming in to tell him about the eagles," said Lynn Wehnert.

That curiosity caused people to flock to Meuwissen Lake. It's where dozens of bald eagles suddenly appeared last week, allowing both professional and amateur photographers to get up close and personal with the raptors.

"There were people out there with good cameras getting, I assume, great pictures," said Wehnert.

Wildlife experts said there are a number of reasons the eagles would come to a little lake in Cologne. They include breeding, nesting, establishing territory, but the most likely reason is to hunt for food.

"As soon as the ice left, the skies were full of eagles," said Richard Arnst, from Benton Lake Watershed Conservancy.

Arnst believes crappies and sunfish are why the eagles picked Meuwissen Lake this year.

"We stocked for the last three years but we've got to believe winterkill this year. The timing was right, the weather was right and the eagles were hungry," said Arnst.

The fish likely flowed from Benton Lake into Lake Meuwissen, making for an easy lunch. Arnst says his organization has also removed about 10,000 carp and bullheads from the lakes to help with water clarity.

"It was awesome. It was great. It was quite the topic in the bars and everybody's been talking about it," said Arnst. "This is like going to Wabasha for the Eagle Center. We had it here in Cologne."

Arnst said they plan to keep stocking fish in the future, in the hope that the birds will come back.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said eagle numbers are the healthiest they've been in years.