Sunday, January 25, 2009

Conowingo Dam, MD (Birding Hot Spot)



For years, I've wanted to visit the Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River in MD. I read and heard that Bald Eagles are a common sighting, especially in the winter months. The Harford Bird Club dedicates a whole web page to birding here.

It was a fairly easy 80 minute drive, following US222/US272 South all the way. The temps were in the low 20's so Max stayed home. Birding is a hobby of patience, and Max prefers motion and I tend to echo that behavior, especially when it comes to standing around in 23 degree temps.

Although, the eagles were elsewhere today, hundreds of gulls were feeding at the discharge. I still loved the locale for the lighting was great on the river. A former railroad, now walking trail is part of the Susquahanna State Park, runs along the river and the icy shoreline was loaded with subject matter.

I used Paul Kane's blog about birding photography in MD for inspiration. He visits Conowingo Dam regularly and witnessed nearly 200 Bald Eagles over Thanksgiving 2008, but much less over Christmas 2008. My 2-hour visit supported the trend that they have moved on to find their nesting sites.

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