Conowingo Dam

Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Fri, 29 Jan 1999 21:24:32 -0500 

Hi all, 


    Went to Conowingo Dam today (11:25am-1:35pm) to see if there were 
anything good. The generators and several floodgates was open and 
created a massive waves which attracts more than 20,000 Ring-billed and 
some rare gulls.


     2  Great Blue Heron (on higher rocks on Cecil side)
     3  Black-crowned Night Heron (1 ad. & 2 imm. at end of the island)
    13  Common Goldeneye (above dam)
   102  Common Merganser
26,059  Ring-billed Gull (20,393 below dam for two mile long downstream 
        and 5,666 above dam)
 1,055  Herring Gull (1,016 below dam and 39 above dam)
   498  Great Black-backed Gull (480 below dam and 18 above dam)
    25  Bonaparte's Gull (20 below dam and 5 above dam)
     2  LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL (1 ad. and 1 1st winter on wall in 
        middle of dam with several Herring and Great Black-backed)
     1  THAYER'S GULL (1 1st winter in water between island and dam, was 
        observe for 20 minutes until took flight with rest of the gulls)
     6  Turkey Vulture
    13  Black Vulture
     5  Bald Eagle (2 ad., 2 1st winter, & 1 3rd winter)
     1  Red-tailed Hawk
   314  Rock Dove
     2  Mourning Dove
    10  Am. Crow
     6  Fish Crow
     6  Carolina Chickadee
     2  Carolina Wren
     1  Winter Wren
     1  Brown Creeper
     4  N. Cardinal
     1  N. Mockingbird
     8  Am. Robin 
     2  Ruby-crowned Kinglet
     2  Golden-crowned Kinglet
     8  Song Sparrow
     3  White-throated Sparrow   
    17  "Yellow-rumped" Warbler
    29  "Slate-colored" Junco

Old Railroad bridge along Stafford Rd. at the river and Deer Creek at 
northeast corner of Susquehanna State Park near Robert and Wood Islands:

202 Ring-billed Gull, 4 Herring Gull, 7 Bonaparte's Gull, 1 hen 
Bufflehead on calm cove just inside of river next to the bridge, 1 drake 
and 12 hen Common Goldeneye along creek just inside of the bridge and a 
pair of Mallard along creek, 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker, 3 N. Cardinal, 2 
N. Mockingbird, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 1 Cooper's Hawk near the open 
grassland, 6 Turkey Vulture, 4 Black Vulture, 20 Song Sparrow, 10 
White-throated Sparrow, 21 "Slate-colored" Junco, 2 adult Bald Eagle on 
Robert Island, 35 Red-winged Blackbird flyby, 32 Common Grackle flyby, 
and 1 Am. Kestrel in nearby field.


     Kevin Graff
     Baltimore, MD
     ggraff@erols.com