CCB | Eagle resights at Conowingo Reservoir

Sept-Dec 2009News from the Center for Conservation Biology

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Conowingo Dam: a great place to view eagles and to resight eagle bands

The spillway below the Conowingo dam near the mouth of the Susquehanna River is likely the best eagle viewing location in Eastern North America. The site attracts non-breeding eagles from populations along the entire Atlantic Coast. Though numbers peak around 300 in the late fall and winter periods, there are thousands of individuals that come and go through this site over the course of a year. The site is strategically positioned within the upper Chesapeake Bay Bald Eagle Concentration Area, a region that draws migrant eagles from as far north as the maritime provinces of Canada down to Florida. Eagles are attracted to the site by the high availability of accessible fish around the outflow of the dam and the abundant waterfowl.

[see Jan-Apr 2009 article, Bald eagle concentration areas throughout the Chesapeake region]

Banded, tracked juvenile bald eagle carrying a fish

Transmitter antenna and leg bands are visible in this close-up from beneath a flying juvenile bald eagle.

Charles Lentz photographed satellite transmitter-wearing immature male bald eagle, Hudson (banded blue S/47 as a nestling, by NYDEC), with a fish in its talons at Conowingo Dam.

View Hudson's satellite locations at his tracking page.

Craig Koppie captured photos of an eagle chase, plus a peek at wildlife photographers awaiting the perfect shot below Conowingo Dam.

Conowingo has had a long history of great eagle watching, in part because the visitor center at the base of the dam and a new pier that allows viewers and photographers to stand at water level and watch foraging eagles at close range. Eagles perch in the trees along the river, fighting over fish and flying low over visitor’s heads. For those interested in high wildlife drama, It is a spectacle not to be missed. Beyond the drama, the site is an important data collection site for eagle researchers. Generations of eagle biologists have banded eagles for years along the eastern seaboard. Eagles are fitted with two metal leg bands to assist researchers with identifying birds in the future. Each state bands eagles with a silver federal band on one leg and a uniquely-colored band coded with easy-to-resight, alpha-numeric characters on the other leg. Hundreds of birds have been banded in this way and each may be identified by reading the band code. Because Conowingo concentrates birds from several populations, it provides a great opportunity to identify good numbers of marked birds.

Adult bald eagle flies by with wings raised

Transmitter visible on the back of an adult bald eagle low along the water, carying a fish

Ted Ellis photographed the adult male bald eagle named Nanjemoy (banded purple N/3 by CCB), a local bird named for Maryland's Nanjemoy Natural Resource Managment Area, flying above the reservoir and then catching a fish at Conowingo Dam.

View Nanjemoy's satellite locations at his wildlifetracking page.

Resighting of banded birds has contributed a great deal to what we know about species’ dispersal/movement patterns and survivorship. Conowingo provides an opportunity to simultaneously watch eagles and contribute to ongoing research by reading and reporting band combinations.

Eagle watchers who observe banded eagles are encouraged to contact the appropriate state band contact by following the directions on this site: www.ccb-wm.org/bands/baldeagle.html. In Maryland and Virginia, eagles are banded with purple leg bands. To report seeing a purple band, contact Libby Mojica by email or phone [757-221-1680]. In addition, photographs of banded eagles are indispensible for reading the alphanumeric codes on the bands and confirming the identity of an individual bird.

Adult eagle wearing a satellite transmitter photographed against a blue sky

Robert Lin photographed adult female bald eagle, Champlain (banded purple M/2 by CCB), at Conowingo Dam. Champlain was named for her summering location of Lake Champlain, on the border of New York and Vermont.

View Champlain's satellite locations at her wildlifetracking page.

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Conowingo Dam is at the north end of the Chesapeake Bay, near the mouth of the Susquehanna River.

The Conowingo Dam is located on the lower Susquehanna River, forming the Susquehanna River Reservoir 10 miles upstream from where the river meets the bay. This area of the Chesapeake Bay is rich in fish and waterfowl prey which attract thousands of foraging eagles in both winter and summer months.