Bald eagle and Cormorant at Conowingo Dam, Maryland (October, 2023) 马里兰州科诺温戈大坝的白头鹰和鸬鹚（2023 年十月）

Conowingo Dam is well known for watching and photographing bald eagle, the American national bird . Built in 1928, the dam spans the Susquehanna River in Maryland, near the town of Conowingo. It is a hydroelectric dam used for generating electricity. Because turbine’s intake valves suck water and fish through the dam into the river downstream, and the water flowing through the dam is never frozen during the cold winter, the dam provides excellent food source for birds. Plus the dam just happens to be on the migratory route of many birds, particularly, bald eagles, and these migratory birds take advantage of fish-rich river for their energy conservancy. This is why we always have a chance to catch a moment of bald eagles grabbing fished or fighting each for the food at the dam.

The dam is opened for public for certain days and hours, but the parking lot (address: 2569 Shure’s Landing Road, Darlington, MD 21034) is always open from 9:00 Am to 5:00 AM. The two best places to watch eagles are 1). right at the parking lot against the fence and 2). fishing pier (a rotunda at the base of the dam). After sun rises or starting around 10:00 am when air temperature gets high enough, bald eagles will come out for fishing.

This is my first time to visit this dam. Driving from New York city to the dam is straightforward and only takes a little over 3 hours. When I arrived, there were quite a few people already being there. It was a quite and warm day, considering it was the end of October. I spent several hours only to see five eagles flying around, but I was not disappointed at all because this is the place where I really can watch the eagles so closely.

During the intervals of waiting for eagles flying by, it was a fun to watch wild cormorants diving and grabbing fishes out of water. In that particular day, it seemed that all fishes that the eagles and cormorans caught were catfishes with yellow skin. The yellow skin added a great accent to the photos, which makes pictures more vivid. I got my best shots between 11:00AM to 2:00PM when the light was good.

科诺温戈大坝 (Conowingo Dam) 是观看和拍摄美国国鸟白头鹰的一个著名景点。 该大坝建于 1928 年，横跨马里兰州科诺温戈镇附近的萨斯奎哈纳河。 它是用于发电的水力发电坝。 由于水轮机的进水阀将水和鱼通过大坝吸入下游河流，而且流经大坝的水在寒冷的冬季不会结冰，大坝为鸟类提供了极好的食物来源。 另外，大坝恰好位于许多鸟类，特别是秃鹰的迁徙路线上，这些候鸟利用多鱼的河流来积累保持能量。 这就是为什么我们在此总有机会捕捉到白头鹰捕鱼或它们为食物而互相争斗的行为一瞬间。

大坝在特定日期和时间向公众开放，但停车场（地址：2569 Shure’s Landing Road, Darlington, MD 21034）在上午 9:00 至凌晨 5:00 总是开的。 观看白头鹰的两个最佳地点是 1) 就在停车场靠栅栏的地方，和 2) 钓鱼码头（大坝底部的圆形台面）。 太阳升起后或上午10:00左右开始，气温升到足够高时，白头鹰就会出来抓鱼。

这是我第一次来这个大坝。 从纽约市驾车前往大坝十分便捷，仅需 3 小时多一点。 当我到达时，已经有不少人在那里呆了一段时间了。 考虑到当时是十月底，这一天是相当地安静而温暖。 虽然我花了几个小时才看到五只老鹰在飞来飞去，但我一点也不失望，因为这是我真正可以近距离观察老鹰的地方。

在等待老鹰飞来的间隙，观赏野生鸬鹚潜入水中抓鱼，也是一种乐趣。 那天，鹰和鸬鹚捕获的鱼似乎都是黄皮的鲶鱼。 黄色的鲶鱼皮肤给照片增添了很大的亮点，让照片栩栩如生。 我的最佳的照片是在上午 11:00 到下午 2:00 之间光线良好时拍摄的。