Lake Mead National Recreation Area

I recently headed south from home toward Arizona where grand daughter number one just finished becoming a mechanical engineer. The end of something like six years of grueling work – with a cum laude to boot – meant that a proud grandpa absolutely had to be in the crowd at Arizona State to cheer her on. She even managed to do it without student loans although she does owe a bunch on the beautician’s training that helped pay the bills.

A quick turn of the weather forced rangers into rescue mode at Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as high winds and waves left dozens of boaters seeking help. The final tally: 70 distress calls at Lake Mead, 11 rescues performed, including of one woman who spent three hours treading water and praying, and the rescue of five young sea kayakers at Sleeping Bear.

One man has died and two were missing Saturday in a boating accident at Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

An annual survey of raptor species at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in mid-January found a slight decline in the number of bald eagles from the previous year, but biologists were not surprised by the results. What's behind the changing numbers of these birds?