Help out a bald eagle on Peche Island Day

Members of the public are being invited to visit Peche Island Sept. 23 and help install a bald eagle nesting platform.

Peche Island Day runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with free transportation from Lakeview Park Marina to Peche Island by boat or Montreal canoe.

To celebrate World Rivers Day, the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup in partnership with the City of Windsor, the Citizens Environment Alliance, the Windsor-Essex County Canoe Club, the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research at the University of Windsor and the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club is inviting people to the island which is a city park. It’s a free event.

Visitors can enjoy self-guided tours to see the historical Hiram Walker summer house ruins, the wetlands and some 175-year-old native trees or help build a new nesting platform. Bald eagles have nested on the island in the past and by providing a platform and nesting material, the city and Detroit River Canadian Cleanup hope to attract eagles back to the island.

“Peche Island Day is about providing access to this beautiful gem in the Detroit River, which is only accessible by boat” Claire Sanders, the remedial action plan coordinator for the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup, said in a news release.

The last boat is expected to leave the mainland at 1 p.m. Because of limited parking at the marina, people are encouraged to bike, carpool or use public transit. If the weather is poor the event may be cancelled.