Conowingo Dam and vacinity, Sunday, April 26
Les Eastman (les_eastman@netfox.net)
Mon, 27 Apr 1998 12:35:35 -0400
I was at Conowingo Dam from about 10:15 to 12 noon. The weather was
cloudy with occasional rain. No flood gates were open but several were
leaking. It looked like all the generators were going so the water was
fairly high.
Bird seen were:
about 500 Double Crested Cormorants - they were plentiful all along the
river from Havre de Grace to Conowingo, so there are easily more than a
thousand in the area.
dozens of Great Blue Herons - the rookery was humming with birds
constantly coming and going. In the winter, I counted over 100 nests
that I could see from across the river. I don't know how many are
actually there or how many are being used but it looks like a majority.
7 Black-crowned Night-Herons - these birds easily disappear into the
cedar trees where they are nesting, so I don't know how many are
actually there. Rick Blom reports 4 active nests.
Gulls - very few and I didn't pay any attention to the ones that were
there.
2 Caspian Terns
Osprey - I don't have an accurate count, they were constantly cruising
around.
1 adult Bald Eagle sitting on the tower on the Cecil side.
Swallows - Purple Martins, Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows and Rough-winged
Swallows were sitting on the wires. In addition, about 50 Purple
Martins were in the trees on Bird Island.
1 Eastern Kingbird
6 American Goldfinches
Due to the uncertain weather, I did not walk the trail.
American Shad were biting very well, so the fisherman were having a good
time even if they did have to throw them back. The fish elevator was
also in operation to get them over the dam.
Other areas:
The Red-headed Woodpecker is still at the Halloway farm on Stafford
Road. A pair of Eastern Bluebirds appear to be nesting in a hole near
the top of the dead tree where the woodpecker hangs out.
The eagle nest on Stafford Road has 2 chicks. While stopped there, I
heard and/or saw Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina
Chickadee, White-eyed Vireo and Louisiana Waterthrush.
At the mouth of Deer Creek in Susquehanna State Park, both Parula and
Yellow-throated Warblers were singing. I found a Parula but never could
find a Yellow-throated Warbler.
Les
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Les Eastman
les_eastman@netfox.net
Havre de Grace, MD
Visit the Harford Bird Club Web Page at http://birdclub.harfordhasit.com