…And if it snows that stretch down south won’t ever stand the strain… –Jimmy Webb
The lower Susquehanna valley’s first snowfall of the season arrived yesterday. By this morning it measured just an inch in depth at Conewago Falls, more to the south and east, less to the west and north. By mid-morning a cold fresh to moderate breeze from the northwest was blowing through the falls and stirring up ripples on the river.
Light snow on the Conewago Falls Pothole Rocks this morning.
Gulls sailed high overhead on the wind, taking a speedy ride downriver toward Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic coast, and countless fast-food restaurant parking lots where surviving winter weather is more of a sure thing. Nearly a thousand Ring-billed Gulls soared past the migration count lookout today. Thirteen Herring Gulls and four Great Black-backed Gulls were among them.
Other migrants today included a Mallard, twenty-nine American Black Ducks, two Bald Eagles, eleven Black Vultures, fifteen Turkey Vultures, five American Goldfinches, and fifteen Red-winged Blackbirds. The wintery weather seems to be prompting these late-season travelers to be on their way.
CLICK ON THE LOGO FOR TODAY’S MIGRATION COUNT TOTALS
You know, today was like many other days at the falls. As I arrive, I have the habit of checking all the power line towers on both river shorelines to see what may be there awaiting discovery. More often than not, something interesting is perched on one or more of the structures…
…sometimes there are large flocks of European Starlings……other times there might be one or more Turkey Vultures……or possibly a Bald Eagle or two……or maybe the fastest-flying bird on the planet……or perhaps, wait; what’s he doing up there?
Yes friends, while the birds migrated through high above, down below a coordinated effort was underway to replace some of the electric transmission cable that stretches across the Susquehanna River at Conewago Falls. As you’ll see, this project requires precise planning, preparation, and skill. And it was fascinating to watch!
A helicopter is used to raise/lower men and equipment to/from the top of the towers.A crew doing preparation work is lifted from a tower on the west shore of Conewago Falls.A crew member is raised to a tower on the east shore of Conewago Falls to begin the next phase of the project.Crew members are positioned on the two towers on the west shore.The helicopter hovers in a stand-by position above the Pothole Rocks. By keeping the chopper downwind from and below the wires being replaced, the pilot avoids putting rotor wash into the work area. Note the linemen on the upper left side of each tower. These men monitored the pulleys as the old cable, followed by the new, was pulled from the west shore to the east.At the ready, the pilot skillfully hovers his craft, nose into the gusty wind, just 100 feet to the east of the migration count site on the Pothole Rocks.Even as the chopper maintained position near and immediately over the count lookout, migrating birds continued to be seen streaming in a downriver direction high above.A migrating immature Bald Eagle passes overhead, apparently undaunted by the commotion created by the use of a helicopter to tend the crew advancing replacement wire across the river below.With the new cable in place, workers are lifted from the towers and lowered to the ground where they can get out of the cold wind after a job well done.
