Conowingo Dam

When I first read about the Conowingo Dam online, I learned that there's a resident colony of eagles there, and in Autumn the population increases as migrants pass through. The conventional wisdom is that the eagles peak at the end of November. Off to Conowingo I went on this cold, clear morning. I left home early and arrived just after 7AM, where I found at least 50 photographers already there and set up to shoot. There were fewer eagles in the trees, fewer flying, fewer on the towers, at least as compared with my last trip. I waited around, freezing in spite of my four layers of clothing. The wind made it uncomfortable, and the lack of action made it boring. There were a few typical incidents of flyovers, like this one.

Immature Bald Eagle

And there were a few hunting events. A bird would head out over the water; it would be joined by at least one other eagle; the bird would get a fish; the others would attack to steal the fish; whichever bird finished with the fish in its possession went to eat out of sight. I saw this happen three times, each time too far away to photograph. Finally, I got a fishing sequence to shoot.

About to Dive

Turning to Get a Fish

Heading Down

Extending the Talons

About to Strike

Got It!

If you look closely, you can even see the fish in that splash of water.

My hands were freezing because my gloves were too thin, so I went back to the car to get better gloves. When I walked back, I saw that I was out of position for what turned out to be the best fishing event of my visit, and while I got to see it happen quite close, the trees made the event impossible to shoot from where I was standing. So I missed it. I hung around a while longer, until clouds started rolling in, by which time I'd had enough of being cold and bored. So that's it for me at Conowingo until next November, when hopefully I'll be able to try again.

Even though I'm finding this location a challenge for getting usable shots, it's well worth visiting. Watching these large birds fish and fight with each other is thoroughly entertaining and I can find no place near my home where the opportunity to watch this spectacle is better.

OBNWR

On this beautiful but cold morning I went back to the refuge, looking for eagles. I found two mature eagles in the trees near the nest by the water. They were partially obscured by branches, and as I walked along the shore to try to find a clear spot, they both flew away. This was the clearest shot I could get, with the one branch in the way.

Bald Eagle

This pair of eagles seems to have reclaimed the nest to get ready for the next breeding season. I walked along the shore and saw two eagles perched near the osprey nest. Again they flew away before I could get good shots of them.

Bald Eagle

As I walked along the shore, I spotted them (or maybe different ones) through the trees a couple of times, again obscured by branches, and again they flew away before I could get close. I also saw a juvenile flying over the woods but was unable to get the camera up in time to shoot it. However, I was able to get the camera up in time to capture this hawk who flew right over me.

Hawk

The other eagle nest was occupied, and both of them flew away before I could get close. Finally this hawk let me walk right below it.

Hawk

I kept waiting for it to fly away, but it seemed content to just stare at me.

So, a disappointing day for eagles. I saw two eagle nests, each with a pair of eagles nearby. I saw an osprey nest with a pair of eagles nearby. I saw an eagle on Conrad Island. I saw eagles in the trees along the shore. But all of them were out of range or obscured, leaving me without any in-flight shots.






Conowingo Dam (Again)

I had an errand that took me into Maryland early yesterday, and that put me past the worst of the Beltway traffic, so I kept going to the dam. The forecast was for partly cloudy skies, which is what I had when I started driving. After I passed Baltimore, it became overcast. Having gone that far, I kept going, hoping the clouds would clear. No luck. When I arrived, it was overcast with mist and everything was grey. To my surprise, the parking lot was full. I'd guess there are about 250 slots for cars, and I think I got the last open slot.

Photographers and the Full Lot

Last time I settled for too many static shots of birds in trees. I was determined this time to concentrate on getting bird in flight shots, which meant I had to pick a spot and stay there and wait for the action that would, hopefully, happen in front of me.

Almost Mature Bald Eagle

The overcast light was wreaking havoc with my tired old camera, which is terrible at high ISO. And there must have been a hundred black buzzards actively flying in the trees, crashing into the branches, and generally creating an endless sound of feathers flapping. But I persevered. This immature eagle swooped by and showed its mottled underside.

Immature Bald Eagle

There was an eagle fight over a fish that I was photographing, except I lost them in the viewfinder and most of the fight happened after I stopped shooting. I missed a chance at photographing a locked talon end-over-end tumble. I had never managed to capture a fishing event, and this was my first attempt.

Bald Eagle Fishing

Again, the light was challenging and it was just too far away to get a good shot. Sometimes an eagle will take a quick glance to see what it caught. In this case, the eagle got the fish and took a peek at its catch.

Checking its Catch

It proceeded to fly right over me, with its fish. This might be my favorite shot of the day. The background sucks, but I like the light coming through the tail feathers, the scales on the fish, and even though I know birds can't make facial expressions, it looks like he/she is determined to get to a quiet tree to chow down.

Bald Eagle with Lunch

I was soon able to capture another fishing event, this time a bit closer.

About to Strike

And the next one in the series...

Gotcha

Here's a fishing event where the eagle dropped the fish.

Missed

Finally the clouds gave way to sunlight and I was able to get this sequence where the eagle departed the trees behind me, flew over me, spotted its target, dove, and got a fish.

About to Dive

Diving

Slowing Down for the Snatch

Got It

And I'll end it with one more where I missed the grab but got this shot as he/she flew just over the water with the catch. If only I'd gotten the entire reflection in the shot...

Eagle with Fish

 

I had a blast, even though the weather was frustratingly cloudy. The first person to see a bird would call out "incoming", or "on the left", or some other warning. Then the cameras would start to fire, and it sounded like a press conference with dozens of cameras shooting a few frames per second. At one point, between fishing events, I counted. There were 50+ tripods in sight, with nearly that many farther from the dam at the other spot where photographers like to set up. All the while, the fishermen were hauling in enormous gizzard shad.

Conowingo Dam

When I saw the forecast for today I decided to go to the Conowingo Dam. The eagle population there peaks in November and it was a beautiful warm day. I got there at about 8AM and found at least 50 photographers with serious gear, with only a few like me lacking the big glass and tripods with gimbal heads.

Conowingo Photographers

I wandered the parking lot, checking the woods for Eagles, and spotted at least 6 of them right away. They were frustratingly idle and obscured by sticks. And they were very chatty when approached by other birds.

Bald Eagles

This bird landed right behind me and frustratingly sat there for a long time as I waited for it to fly away. Sadly, no action from him and I moved on.

Bald Eagle

There were a few bird in flight events, and I did grab a few shots. One was tantalizingly close, too close to photograph, right in front of me, with an eagle who had a fish getting attacked by another eagle trying to steal the fish. However, most flight events were like this one, with only a brief chance to grab a shot as it flew by.

Bald Eagle

Between the flight and fishing events, I was able to get a few shots like this, as sometimes I got lucky and the birds would park in good light and (mostly) unobstructed by branches.

Bald Eagle

The pattern was long periods of calm, then a brief frenzy of activity with up to 4 eagles fishing at once. This might be the cleanest bird in flight shot from those events.

Bald Eagle

One of the challenges of shooting over the water is dealing with the annoying backgrounds presented by power lines and cable towers.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

This juvenile put on a fishing show, which I did a poor job of capturing.

Juvenile Bald Eagle Fishing

Juvenile Bald Eagle Fishing

Normally I wouldn't put a photo such as this one in this blog because I blew it (it's too soft). But I like the composition so much, with the reflection, that I'll indulge in posting the poor image.

Juvenile Bald Eagle Fishing

I like this next one because of the sunlight shining through the tail feathers.

Bald Eagle in Flight

Finally I ran out of time; I had to get back home to fetch my son from school. So I took one last stroll down the parking lot to see if there was anything else to shoot before leaving. This bird landed right in front of me.


Bald Eagle with Fish

The fish was still wriggling. The eagle perched there for a while, and finally began eating.


Bald Eagle Eating Lunch

After a few bites, another eagle landed in the same tree and, after a brief session of shrieking at each other, this eagle flew away, and that was the end of my photography for the day.

It was a great day to be outside; there was a lot of eagle activity (even if I didn't capture much of it), and I had a wonderful time. Can't wait to go back.
 

New Eagle Nest

On a beautiful cold, clear morning I went to OBNWR again. As usual there was a line of cars waiting for the gate to open at 7AM.

I hustled to the shoreline road and was surprised to see a new bald eagle nest. Well, it's new to me. I've walked by it several times but was unable to see it because of leaves. Now that most of the summer's leaves have dropped, the nest is easily visible. And it had two occupants.

Two Bald Eagles on Nest

I'm guessing that the eagles are beginning to return to nests that have been vacant since the last group of fledglings departed. I had seen eagles in this vicinity several times on previous visits, and now that makes perfect sense. They were near their nest that I just couldn't see.

I wandered my usual route, not seeing much else noteworthy. Eventually I approached the nest I've seen before. It was back-lit, but I was able to get this shot of an eagle on the nest before it flew away.

Bald Eagle on Nest

 Disappointingly, I was unable to get any clear shots of any of the birds I saw today. As I was leaving, I got this shot of the remaining Fall leaves in brilliant sunlight.

Fall Colors at OBNWR

 And I spotted this hawk by the golf course.

Hawk (red shouldered? red-tailed?)

I also spotted some buffleheads on the water, but they were too far away and back-lit to shoot.

So the value of this visit was mainly exercise and nest discovery because the photography didn't yield much. Still, I'm glad I went.