Disappointment at Conowingo

The weather was a little warmer than usual when we made our trek to Conowingo last week. The weather turned out to be the best part. The eagles must have finished their breakfast by the time we got there and were not very active; this was the best picture I got – from all the way across the river. You can tell that those rocks are favorite perches (all the ‘white’).

The black vultures were not very photogenic either. The big grouping that usually eyeballs cars going over the dam from a fence only numbered three birds. The others must have been out and about – maybe at some substantial carrion site.

At first I thought the cormorants would redeem the trip. There were at least two of them and they were within photographic range. But then I realized that the reason they were staying in one location was a tangled (and trashed) fishing lure rather than a fish (you can see it (light green) and the line that evidently snagged it to the rocky bottom in the middle picture below).

There were a few gulls about. I tried taking pictures of them as they landed or flew up from the water. The one with the orange spot on the bill is a Herring Gull. The other one could be a Ring-billed Gull since the beak looks like it has black instead of orange toward the end.

There were two Canadian Geese in the shallows on the other side of the dam abutment – almost out of camera range.

The same was true for a flock of pigeons. They usual are on the dam structure but they must have been startled by something because a large number left the dam at the same time and moved to the rocks.

On a botanical note – the Princess tree buds still look the same as they did last time we were at Conowingo. The buds on the tulip poplars (at the end of the twigs) seem to be getting larger.

On the way home, I took a picture of the mounds of salt along I-95 near the tunnel (through a dirty window). Generally the salt piles are significantly reduced by this time of year….but not this season. I wonder what will happen to it since the salt storage buildings are probably already full.

Conowingo – February 2017

We picked a cold sunny day to trek to Conowingo Fisherman’s Park last week. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center to bundle up: ski bibs and footwarmers inside hiking boots. When we got to the park we added a balaclava, hat, coat, and handwarmers inside gloves. The extra layers of warmth kept use reasonably comfortable. My nose got cold because I couldn’t pull the balaclava up over it without my glasses fogging up. The first think I noticed was that weren’t many birds about. There were icicles on the railing. The churning water creates just enough spray for them to form on the section closest to the dam.

I walked back toward the entrance to see the buds of the Paulownia that grows on the cliff side of the park. They are brown and velvety already. They are an invasive species in our area but this one does not seem to be propagating itself.

The gulls that were so plentiful last time were scarce…but the black vultures were around. They seem to like the view from the top of the dam.

There were very few eagles about (we’re spoiled because there are often so many of them). My husband got a few ‘in flight’ pictures. I decided to just watch the birds rather than trying to follow their flight with my camera.

As we were leaving there was an eagle in a tulip poplar tree on the cliff side. Its feathers were fluffed against the cold. He kept looking toward the river…and eventually flew off in that direction.