Monthly Archives: October 2011
Field Report for December, 2011
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Based on the incredibly low numbers of eagles this year, I’ve stopped going. Getting up before dawn to make the trek out to Harford county each weekend just wasn’t worth the effort for me anymore. Things started looking grim about midway through November and the eagle numbers never really picked up at all. After several weekends of sitting on those rocks thinking “I could be doing something else worthwhile right now”, I knew it was time to throw in the towel for a bit. I might head back down once in a while after things start to get really cold … but this year is turning out to be a bummer down on the Susquehanna.
Field Report for Sunday, November 6th, 2011
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Size: 30-35 Eagles. More juveniles today than two weeks ago.
Activity: Three to four bursts of fishing/chasing. Birds were more active, but it was still a very slow morning.
Location: More eagles perching on the towers rather than the far side of the river, catching fish and heading back into the trees behind the parking lot.
Weather: 41 degrees @ 7am. Light fog burned off early. Zero wind. No clouds early, then high level cirrus moved in as the morning went on.
Time: 7am-10:30am
Equipment: 1D4 + 500mm on the Gitzo GM5561T Monopod
Additional Notes: While there were a few more eagles this week, there still aren’t as many as I remember seeing in years past. The dam was still operating in spill mode, with anywhere from 1-4 gates open on the eastern side and 5 small turbines and zero large turbines running. I don’t know what could be the cause – weather/flooding, shad levels, eagle population… or a combination of them all, but there is a noticeable drop in eagles there so far. I’m optimistic that maybe once things start to get really cold, more will show up.
Field Report for Sunday, October 23rd, 2011
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Size: 20-25 Eagles. Mostly mature, not many juveniles.
Activity: One burst of fishing on the far side of the river. Five eagles fighting over one unlucky shad. Super slow morning.
Location: Far side of the Susquehanna was where they were all hanging out, on the electrical towers and the other side of the island.
Weather: 38 degrees @ 7am. Incredibly dense, heavy fog due to cold air & warm(ish) water. Fog didn’t burn off until almost 10am.
Time: 7am-10:30am
Equipment: 1D4 + 500mm on the Gitzo. Next time I’ll be using the monopod, forgot how much effort it takes to get the tripod setup on the rocks.
Additional Notes: Port Deposit is still cleaning up after the flooding but the roads are clear. New loose rock was laid down along the top of the fenceline at the fishermans park, be aware of this and watch your footing. This outing felt like a waste of time, but taking into consideration the fog and the time of year, it was still good to get out for a few hours and get re-aquainted with the rocks.