Code

CCBTR-14-17

Publication Date

2014

Abstract

The Holtwood Dam is located on the lower Susquehanna River between York and Lancaster Counties, PA, 1.5km upstream from the Rt 372 Bridge (Figure 1). The area around the dam is known to support two breeding pairs (Kleinschmidt pers. comm.). PPL Holtwood LLC (PPL has completed redeveloping the Holtwood Hydroelectric Plant which included blasting activities within the construction zone from January 2010 through June 2013. In consultation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC),PPL developed a management and monitoring plan prior to initiating construction to minimize the effects of blasting noise on the two eagle pairs. A federal eagle take permit was issued in 2012 after eagles at the nesting territory on Piney Island were observed flushing after two blasting events. A condition of the take permit required PPL to conduct a telemetry project to study the movements of bald eagles using the habitat near the dam to nest and forage. The original goal of the study was to deploy transmitters on eagles at the Piney Island nest with the Holtwood nest as an alternative. In early April 2012, the breeding attempt at the Piney Island nest failed and this project focused solely on the eagles at the Holtwood Dam nest. OBJECTIVES 1. Deploy transmitters on two bald eagles near the Holtwood Dam 2. Use tracking data to support management of eagles at Holtwood during redevelopment activities

Topic

Habitat Quality/Use/Movement; Breeding/Demography/Population Dynamics; Satellite Tracking

Species

Bald Eagle

Source

The Center for Conservation Biology Technical Report Series, CCBTR-14-17. College of William and Mary & Virginia Commonwealth University, Williamsburg, VA.

Journal Article URL

8

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