Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:21:43 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Laura M. Appelbaum" Subject: Eagles Eating Sushi: Conowingo Dam MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Today (Sunday), my husband and I made our first trip up to Conowingo Dam and WOW! we were not disappointed! I couldn't believe how many eagles we saw, and from so close up! As soon as we arrived in the afternoon, we stepped out of the car to find two eagles wheeling at each other right over the parking lot. Over the course of the afternoon we saw at least three of them up close sitting in the trees on the hill behind the parking lot. There were eagles on the jetties, eagles on the rocks, eagles on the power towers, eagles flying all over the place; it was almost like they were starlings or something! LOL! So exciting! At one point we watched an adult eagle fly off from the jetty, grab a fish out of the water, and bring it back to eat. An immature eagle flew in and swiped it out from under him, leading to a fairly prolonged chase before the adult gave up, came back, sat for a while, then caught himself (or herself) another fish. There was also a Peregrine Falcon sitting up at the top of the left-most tower, and I counted 51 Great Blue Herons. I shot off a roll and a half of film through my scope and once I get them developed I'll scan them in, put the best ones on line and let everyone know where they can see them. I have to say, the best part of the day was getting to repay the many favors that were done for us as beginning birders over the years by inviting people to take a close look at the birds through our new scope. There's nothing better than having two small boys shouting with excitement as they watch eagles fishing, or being able to casually educate passers-by ("actually, those brown birds with the white specks on them aren't Ospreys but immature Bald Eagles") and letting them see for themselves. Laura Appelbaum Colesville, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================