#5b - Sheppard-Myers Reservoir
Property Manager: Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (814) 643-1831 and Hanover Borough (717) 637-3877
GPS address: Sheppard-Myers Reservoir, 730 Tollgate Rd, Hanover, PA 17331.
Hours: Open daily 5 am- 9 pm
Parking: The reservoir has two parking areas. One on Impounding Dam Road across the road from the water. The other parking area is at the south end of the reservoir where the South Branch of the Conewago Creek flows into the reservoir on Tollgate Road.
Restrooms: The parking area on Impounding Dam Road has a portable toilet.
Safety Reminders: No boats permitted at Sheppard-Myers. No Hunting.
Best Birding: Sept-May, dawn until dusk.
Site Description: This area managed by the Fish and Boat Commission and Hanover Borough in Southwestern York County is a great birding location during migration and winter. The 47 acre lake is popular with fisherman. In 2020 a draw down plan will likely change the type of species a birder will find. Once the drawdown occurs shorebirds could be viewed there in good numbers. It is hard to predict what the “mudflats” at the south end of the reservoir will look like from year to year based on precipitation cycles (as is the case with the Black Rock Road Flats at Codorus State Park).
Where the South Branch of the Conewago Creek enters the reservoir (at the Tollgate Road parking area) there have been some great shorebird sightings. Short-billed Dowitcher, yellowlegs, and other sandpipers species have been viewed there recently.
The reservoir has attracted a variety of water birds and waterfowl year round with the most active time for these species being September-May. One surprise, in May of 2018, was a beautiful adult Brown Pelican viewed there by several birders. Summer holds fewer surprises at Sheppard-Myers but the spruces and pines can hold surprises of breeding woodland warblers. Canada Geese, Mallards, Ring-necked Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, and Common Mergansers are all fairly common during the winter months if the water is not frozen.