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Famous DC eagle couple leads countdown to new year

WASHINGTON — If you are looking for a different way to ring in the New Year, here’s an idea: Join the bald eagle couple known as “Mr. President and The First Lady” in the big count down.

[related_gallery align=”right”]The D.C. eagle cameras have gone live for New Year’s Eve. A special question-and-answer session about the birds is scheduled from midnight to 2 a.m. Sunday, New Year’s Day.

The popular pair lives atop a tulip poplar tree at the National Arboretum in D.C. They became a worldwide internet sensation, with people watching from more than 100 countries as the couple raised their eaglets in  2016.

The American Eagle Foundation, a nonprofit bald eagle conservation group, said Mr. President returned to the nest in September and The First Lady returned in October. Since then the couple has been preparing their nest for more eaglets.

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Once the new year arrives, high-definition cameras will be streaming 24/7. The American Eagle Foundation installed the audio equipment in and around the tree after the eaglets left the nest in August.

Also, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted the U.S. National Arboretum and the American Eagle Foundation permission to fix one side of the eagle’s nest that was collapsing. With the guidance of eagle experts, tree experts placed a few large tree limbs underneath the nest for support.

National Museum of the American Latino to be housed in historic Smithsonian building

The Smithsonian Institution has decided to put the National Museum of the American Latino into an existing, historic building, rather than constructing a new one. The Smithsonian Board of Regents on Monday designated the Arts and Industries Building, a 145-year-old redbrick Victorian structure located between the Smithsonian Castle and the Hirshhorn Museum, as the permanent site of the National Museum of the American Latino, which Congress authorized in 2020. In 2022, the Smithsonian narrowed its survey for permanent locations for the National Museum of the American Latino and the American Women's History Museum to four locations near the National Mall on land owned by the National Park Service. The Arts and Industries Building, located at 900 Jefferson St. SW, was one of the four sites. New construction on National Park Service land would require congressional approval. However, since the Smithsonian already owns the Arts and Industries Building, the institution can place the National Museum of the American Latino in the existing building without additional legislation.
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