UTICA — The Illinois River is a wide barrier that separates the Illinois Waterway Visitor Center and Starved Rock State Park.

Saturday and Sunday, the two tourist attractions will be linked by a common thread — bird watching.

For the 12th straight year, raptor fans from in and outside of La Salle County will be on both sides of the river for the Bald Eagle Watch Weekend. They have their choice of getting close looks at the birds as they congregate above the river and on Leopold's Island, or even closer to take in a live raptor program.

Cold weather could bring out eagles in record numbers. One week ago, 70 were spotted on the river, said Kevin Ewbanks, lead park ranger for the U.S. Army of Corp of Engineers at the visitor center on Dee Bennett Road between Utica and Naplate.

"The forecast looks very promising," he said. "It calls for no temperatures above freezing before eagle weekend, so we're expecting incredible numbers."

Eagles, or people? Both, actually.

"They come from all over. And a lot of locals bring their kids and grandkids," said Edna Daugherty, director of activities at Starved Rock Lodge. She added the lodge's hotel has been "booked up for a while," as often is the case for Bald Eagle Watch Weekend.

When lake and streams freeze, bald eagles tend to gather near the lock and dam, where the water remains open and the raptors can search for fish. Most of them reside far to the north, but some are permanent La Salle County residents.

"They seem to have increased. We see more eagles in this area year-round, and we're seeing more nests in this area and in Illinois," said Don Goerne of Streator, president of the Starved Rock Audubon Society.

Goerne's group is a division of the Illinois Audubon Society, which along with the waterway visitor center sponsors weekend activities at the center. They include programs with live eagles at noon and 2 and 4 p.m. each day. Similar shows will be at 10 a.m., noon and 2 and 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the Starved Rock Room at the lodge.

No admission will be charged for any of the demonstrations, but tickets will be required. They can be picked up at the Audubon Society booth at the lodge and the front desk at the visitor center.

"We recommend you come to the visitor center early that day and pick up tickets for the show you want to attend," Ewbanks said.

Children's activities will be staged on both sides of the river — at the waterway visitor center and Port St. Louis de Illinois Visitor Center at the park. For a $1 fee, visitors can have unlimited rides on the Starved Rock Trolley, which will run between the lodge and both visitor centers.

Bird watchers will congregate at the waterway visitor center, where they can view bald eagles with binoculars or high-powered telescopes.

"One thing I like about the weekend is seeing the eagles interact with each other," Goerne said. "They'll try to steal a fish from another that's caught a fish. That goes on quite a bit. It's fun to watch them in the wild."

Raising awareness of the endangered status of bald eagles — and promoting conservation — is the purpose of the weekend, Goerne said. The Audubon Society is concerned that fewer immature birds are being spotted around the lock and dam, and he said more of those are needed to indicate a successful population of birds.

But Goerne still gets a thrill out of seeing a bald eagle in flight, and is pleased the majestic birds can be seen so often in and around Starved Rock.

"It wasn't that long ago we'd be happy to have one or two birds in the area. Now those numbers have increased dramatically," he said.

And so have the people who attend Bald Eagle Watch Weekend.