I have been wanting to get to this place in Md called Conowingo Dam. It crosses the Susquehanna River and is known for Bald Eagles. It was an experience for sure and I got there on a slow day and still saw a ton of them. sometimes they fly right over your head with fish and land in tress behind you and eat fish. a 400mm lens is enough.lots shoot with a canon and a 100-400 or 400 f5.6 lens If you want Eagle shots this is the place. A photographer that shoots Eagles in Alaska told a buddy of mine that Conowingo is the best place in the entire US for eagles. one day a guy counted 125 here is a few from my first visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/ac209/8186198167/#in/photostream/lightbox/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ac209/8186104967/#in/photostream/lightbox/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ac209/8192642103/#in/photostream/lightbox/
great stuff howie! ; glad the trip was worth your while, I can only imagine what it might look like on a NOT slow day.
thanks guys good idea Gary but weekends are a no go. way to busy there and there is only about a 6 to 8 week window for getting eagles. October into December they call this The Million Dollar Fence. lots of 400 f2.8 and 500 and 600 f4 glass in a row at Conowingo but as I said 400 is enough and some even use a 70-300 http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdjenkins/8179744982/#in/contacts/lightbox/
You are talking to Gary...he has lots of vacation time to go with you Howie. How's the local wildlife doing out at Forsythe?
thanks Paul Scott the forsythe roads are closed. a few walking trails are open but I am not walking around with the 600. ; LOL the road got some damage so it is closed until possibly as long as spring http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsnortheast/8159639215/# http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsnortheast/8151077809/#in/photostream/ numerous boats also washed up into the refuge and debris
Ouch! ; I feared that road would take major damage when I saw the photos of the Atlantic City boardwalk destroyed. ; Hope they can repair the road over the winter.
thanks Tim. I want to go back and do better. the eagles move a lot faster than I thought they did especially when diving for fish and sometimes there are so many in the air it is hard to decide which one to lock focus on Scott the media is so full of it. the part of the boardwalk that was destroyed was already destroyed and that part should have been demolished 25 years ago. The rest of the boardwalk is fine but the media once again lies their butt off and it has actually cost the casinos some biz as they did a poll and people think the boardwalk was destroyed. It is a small section that starts about 6 blocks after the last casino
Looks like you found an awesome spot there - great shots. ; I've been away on a cruise - got back Tuesday, then went right into work and Thanksgiving, plus trying to get through my trip photos, so I'm just getting my head above it all now and back to the forums to check in. ; Eagles are always a nice welcome back. ; Too bad about Forsythe - guess that photo I found of it was legit...hopefully once they clean it up, the birds will still return for summer.
are the eagles still there in strong numbers?? i found a flickr group with some great shots, and a few of that million dollar fence. unfortunately due to work commitments this week if i go there it'll have to be saturday, but i would drive down friday to within 20 miles of there and hotel so i'd be onsite before dawn saturday. and that's assuming we are not on another deployment to long beach. i'll post up a thread next about that adventure. so weather and other things permitting i may get there yet
Gary weather permitting I am going to go down this Wed and I will let you know. I will also ask some friends that have been down there over the weekend how it is
thanks howie, that would be great, if they are not there in numbers i'll make time next year on a friday in mid november