A Stop Along The Way
Spring Migration at Middle Creek
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Sunday, March 11th, best day ever observing and photographing geese. The official count is 180,000+ geese and still growing (this is the all time high for Snow Geese here at Middle Creek, so far). This is a warm day, into the 60’s. Most photos taken today are from the same spot where in 2006 the entire flock of geese flew directly over our heads. Three or four hundred yards in the distance near the edge of lake, several small flocks of geese started to land in the cornfield to forage. For almost three and a half hours we watched this build-up of foraging geese. By this time the geese had gathered from the distant tree line near edge of lake some 350 yards towards us in a wide swath approximately 2,000 yards long. This was an awesome sight as they kept coming in small groups of near one hundred geese. Once again … the amazing thing is, we saw just as many geese on the lake, as there seemed to be in the fields. By this time there appeared to be well over 100 cars lined up along both sides of the tour route, with people watching and photographing the spectacle. At exactly 4:38pm (our time) the large number of geese remaining on the lake, lifted off and swept over the geese in the field we were watching. This started a chain reaction. All of the geese in the field lifted off and circled right, directly in front and overhead like a wave advancing towards us. Words cannot begin to describe this experience! We were left almost breathless!
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About the Book
Mid-February, the air is cold, damp and turbulent. From the southeast a familiar cacophony of high pitched honking fills the air. The strength of the sounds grows more intense as the sky in the distance begins to appear spotted. Alas! The spring migration is under way. Flocks of Snow Geese begin pouring in to this small wildlife refuge. They range in size from just a few birds to thousands at a time. They migrate long distances and often fly at high altitudes in more of a wavy line or arc rather than the “V” of Canada Geese. Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area is just “A Stop Along The Way” for these and many other waterfowl traveling the Atlantic Flyway as they return to their Arctic breeding grounds. A propagation area of 750+ acres surrounded by thousands of acres of State Game Land as well as farm fields provide an excellent stopover for migrating geese, swans and assorted ducks. Here they can rest from their long journey while feeding to build reserves before once again taking to the air as they continue their northern trek. This is a five year observation of Snow Geese, Tundra Swans and other fowl at Middle Creek.
About the Author
For the past seven years we have observed and photographed the waterfowl at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area. I (Rich) have been an amateur nature photographer since the late 1970’s. I am retired from Danka, Inc., as a field engineer and reside in Dover, Pennsylvania, with my beautiful wife, Mikki, and our two felines.