The Conowingo Dam offers a bird lover’s paradise

  ·  Dave Wolf, The Sentinel   ·   Link to Article

It’s within a day’s driving distance, and something worthy of visiting. Located on the Susquehanna River in northeast Maryland, the Conowingo Dam is an awesome sight.

The dam is 4,468 feet long and 100 feet high. It impounds 105 billion gallons of water in a 14-square-mile lake. To reach full capacity, a flow of 85,000 cubic feet per second is required. That’s more than 38 million gallons per minute!

During the last few weeks, we have made numerous trips for photos of ospreys, Great Blue Herons and what has to be considered an over-abundance of double-crested cormorants. But, it’s the American bald eagle that attracts most visitors.

It has been years since I last visited there, mostly out of concerns that the dam had fish passage facilities, and the runs of American shad had come to a near standstill. According to their website, since 1972, Conowingo Dam has been vital to returning American shad to the upper Susquehanna River. A $12 million fish lift was completed in the early 1990s, and has restored more than 1 million shad.

Despite these efforts, American shad are still in a state of recovery, and both states are working to bring them back.

Conowingo has been providing electricity to the regional system since 1928. When constructed from 1926 to 1928, Conowingo was the largest power plant ever built and had the largest turbines and generators to date. When the Conowingo Dam was completed in 1928, producing 252 megawatts, it became the second largest hydroelectric project in the United States, behind Niagara Falls.

The original plant had seven turbines, and in 1964, four more turbines were added. The water flow of the Susquehanna River provides the fuel for the 11 current turbine generators, producing 500 MW of electricity. Because water is used to turn the turbines, Conowingo can be used to “jump start” the electric distribution system in the event of a system failure of the PJM connection.

Conowingo Hydroelectric Generating Station is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power plant owned and operated by Exelon Power, a business unit of Exelon Generation. Conowingo has a license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that expires Sept. 1. Typically, a FERC license is issued for a period from 30 to 50 years. Exelon filed an application to re-license Conowingo with FERC in August 2012.

Yes, the best time of the year to be there is October through December, when you can see as many as 100 eagles a day, but seeing a half dozen makes the trip worthwhile. Perhaps the greatest part of the trip is easily finding birds and parking, as well as port-a-potties. The ground is level, making it handicap-accessible, and there are picnic-type tables along a fence, that you can use to steady your camera.

From Route 1 just south of the dam, turn east on Shuresville Road. After one-half mile, make the first left onto Shures Landing Road. Follow the road to the parking lot at the base of the dam, where it dead-ends. The parking lot is open every day from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. There are public bathrooms at the pavilion.

The best time to be there is early morning or late afternoon, we chose the latter. Being unfamiliar with the area, I had walked the pavement toward the dam. There, I found double-crested cormorants sitting on the strong currents. I was intrigued by their constant diving, and hopeful one would come up with a fish in their ferocious looking beaks.

Then, I saw a larger bird flying toward me. Forgetting the Cormorants, I focused on the incoming bird, realizing it was a Great Blue heron. I was fortunate enough to capture some good photos of the bird in flight, and was almost gleeful that it landed on the rocks below me. I spent the next hour watching the heron and the Cormorants, hoping one or the other would come up with a fish.

In the meantime, Karen was downstream collecting incredible shots of a bald eagle flying directly over her head. She had waited patiently for more than an hour, watching as it sat in a large tree on the hillside above the dam, praying it would fly. When it finally did take off, after it surveyed the area quite thoroughly, Karen snapped photo after photo of it in flight. Both of us had also taken some shots of black vultures soaring in the crystal blue sky. I was fortunate enough to get a photo of the blue heron, shaking himself off after falling into that turbulent flow. A shot that I liked better than any I had taken that day. I had never seen one fall in the water before.

The day was closing fast and we were losing light, enough light to take decent photos, so we headed home.

The next day I spent writing, but my mind kept flicking back to the Conowingo, those eagles, herons, cormorants and the endless list of birds that could be found there. Karen said she even dreamed of them that night. So, the following day we headed back to the Conowingo, and weren’t disappointed. We gathered more photos, and this time, the Cormorants were devouring the fish, sometimes fighting with each other over their catch.

Karen captured an awesome shot of an osprey carrying nesting material in its talons, and I was able to catch an eagle sitting on top of its huge nest. I feel certain that we will be going back time and again this year. I would give this place a two thumbs up.

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