After Joe Coleman posted about the Cliff Swallow colony being under threat from a bridge repainting project, I endeavored to contact appropriate state officials to see what could be done, if anything. 

On 7/2/10 I first contacted Geoffrey McCammon <> who had been a contact person mentioned in the Brunswick Citizen newspaper about another issue relating to the project.  He replied on Wednesday, saying that he had forwarded my e-mail to SHA's Project Engineer Mr. Ryan Hughes <>, Chief, Structure Remedial Construction Division for his input on this matter. 

Mr. McCammon commented “The Structure Remedial Construction Division manages all of SHA's bridge cleaning and maintenance projects.  As the issue of birds nesting beneath bridges is common occurrence, I am certain Mr. Hughes has dealt with this sort of matter in the past and will be able to provide insight.”

Unfortunately, I have not heard from Mr. Hughes.

I asked Norm and was granted his approval to ask MDOspreyers who are interested to send their concerns to both Mr. McCammon and Mr. Hughes.  If you chose to do so I would ask three things

1. Be courteous in your correspondence after all there may be actions that have already been put in motion that we don't know about and
2. Not involve MDOsprey by posting copies of correspondence to it
3. Refrain from mentioning MDOsprey in your communication with the SHA officials.  I've already done that, but i don't see the need for others to do so.

Joe Coleman’s original posting is below my signature as well as Migratory Bird Treaty Act information

Jim (Michael) Speicher
jugornought—at—yahoo-dot-com
Bethesda @work :(
Broad Run_S. FRED Co @home :)


From:  http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/MDOS.html#1277839075
Subject: Cliff Swallows Nesting at Brunswick, MD
From: Joe Coleman <joecoleman AT RSTARMAIL.COM>
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:07:50 -0400
Byron Swift, who is participating in the Loudoun Co Bird
atlas, has found a colony of about 20 CLIFF SWALLOWS nesting
under the bridge that goes from Brunswick, Frederick Co, MD
into Loudoun Co, VA. Unfortunately, it appears that their
nests are going to be covered with tarpaulins as a result of
a major bridge painting project. If you know of anyone or
anything that can be done about this we would appreciate it
if you would pls forward this message to them? 

It seems like there should be a way to paint a bridge in a
swallow-friendly way! 

Joe Coleman
near Bluemont, Loudoun Co, VA

From:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migratory_Bird_Treaty_Act_of_1918
Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Under United States Code Title 16, Chapter 7, Subchapter
II, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 is the United
States legislation implementing the convention between the
U.S. and Great Britain (for Canada). It replaced the
Weeks-McLean Act, which had become effective in 1913. The
United States subsequently entered into similar agreements
with four other nations (Canada, Mexico, Japan and Russia)
to protect migratory birds. The statute makes it unlawful to
pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill or sell birds listed
therein ("migratory birds"). The statute does not
discriminate between live or dead birds and also grants full
protection to any bird parts including feathers, eggs and
nests. Over 800 species are currently on the list.

Partial Listing of Covered Species
The following is a sampling of some of the more commonly
known birds of the over 800 species covered under the
treaty:
Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Black-capped Chickadee, Parus atricapillus
American Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus
Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis
Cedar Waxwing, Bombycilla cedrorum
Cliff Swallow, Hirundo pyrrhonota (stopped the list here)