Snow geese take off for the Arctic in mesmerizing sunrise display
A few dozen birdwatchers gathered in the predawn darkness to wait for the moment when thousands of migrating snow geese stopped honking and preening to suddenly take flight from a Pennsylvania reservoir.
The mesmerizing display, about an hour after sunrise, was over almost as soon as it began.
The birds circled a few times and then headed out to neighboring farm fields, seeking unharvested grains and other sustenance on their epic annual spring flight northward into New York state and Quebec.
The Pennsylvania reservoir was built a half-century ago to attract waterfowl, and over the years, the gaggle has grown.
Pennsylvania Game Commission environmental education specialist Payton Miller described it as a raucous bird tornado that lifts off the water.
“All it takes is for me to come out here on a really nice morning where there’s a huge morning flight and I’m kind of reminded how awesome it is to see such a large number of such a beautiful bird,” Miller said. “I never get sick of it.”
Among those taking it all in was Adrian Binns, a safari guide from Paoli, Pennsylvania, who went to the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area for “the whole enjoyment of seeing something you don’t see every day.”
Snow geese have been arriving in growing numbers at the 6,300-acre (25 square kilometers) Middle Creek property since the late 1990s.
At this time of year, they have just spent months along the Atlantic coast, from New Jersey south to the Carolinas, with many of them overwintering on the Delmarva Peninsula that forms the Chesapeake Bay.
They don’t stay long at Middle Creek — it’s just a way station on their journey to summer breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic and western Greenland.
But for a few short weeks, they are the main attraction at Middle Creek, which draws about 150,000 visitors annually — including about a thousand hunters.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission, which owns Middle Creek, says about 100,000 snow geese were roosting there on the busiest day last year, on par with recent peak activity but below the single-day record of about 200,000 on Feb. 21, 2018.
Snow geese are doing well, but their large numbers have come with a cost.
According to a 2017 study published by Springer Nature, greater snow geese grew in population from about 3,000 in the early 20th century to some 700,000 by the 1990s.
By some estimates, there are about a million of the birds now — along with maybe 10 million of lesser snow geese, which are smaller — that also breed in the Arctic.
NY Post
A few dozen birdwatchers gathered in the predawn darkness to wait for the moment when thousands of migrating snow geese stopped honking and preening to suddenly take flight from a Pennsylvania reservoir.
The mesmerizing display, about an hour after sunrise, was over almost as soon as it began.
The birds circled a few times and then headed out to neighboring farm fields, seeking unharvested grains and other sustenance on their epic annual spring flight northward into New York state and Quebec.
The Pennsylvania reservoir was built a half-century ago to attract waterfowl, and over the years, the gaggle has grown.
Pennsylvania Game Commission environmental education specialist Payton Miller described it as a raucous bird tornado that lifts off the water.
“All it takes is for me to come out here on a really nice morning where there’s a huge morning flight and I’m kind of reminded how awesome it is to see such a large number of such a beautiful bird,” Miller said. “I never get sick of it.”
Among those taking it all in was Adrian Binns, a safari guide from Paoli, Pennsylvania, who went to the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area for “the whole enjoyment of seeing something you don’t see every day.”
Snow geese have been arriving in growing numbers at the 6,300-acre (25 square kilometers) Middle Creek property since the late 1990s.
At this time of year, they have just spent months along the Atlantic coast, from New Jersey south to the Carolinas, with many of them overwintering on the Delmarva Peninsula that forms the Chesapeake Bay.
They don’t stay long at Middle Creek — it’s just a way station on their journey to summer breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic and western Greenland.
But for a few short weeks, they are the main attraction at Middle Creek, which draws about 150,000 visitors annually — including about a thousand hunters.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission, which owns Middle Creek, says about 100,000 snow geese were roosting there on the busiest day last year, on par with recent peak activity but below the single-day record of about 200,000 on Feb. 21, 2018.
Snow geese are doing well, but their large numbers have come with a cost.
According to a 2017 study published by Springer Nature, greater snow geese grew in population from about 3,000 in the early 20th century to some 700,000 by the 1990s.
By some estimates, there are about a million of the birds now — along with maybe 10 million of lesser snow geese, which are smaller — that also breed in the Arctic.
NY Post
A few dozen birdwatchers gathered in the predawn darkness to wait for the moment when thousands of migrating snow geese stopped honking and preening to suddenly take flight from a Pennsylvania reservoir.
The mesmerizing display, about an hour after sunrise, was over almost as soon as it began.
The birds circled a few times and then headed out to neighboring farm fields, seeking unharvested grains and other sustenance on their epic annual spring flight northward into New York state and Quebec.
The Pennsylvania reservoir was built a half-century ago to attract waterfowl, and over the years, the gaggle has grown.
Pennsylvania Game Commission environmental education specialist Payton Miller described it as a raucous bird tornado that lifts off the water.
“All it takes is for me to come out here on a really nice morning where there’s a huge morning flight and I’m kind of reminded how awesome it is to see such a large number of such a beautiful bird,” Miller said. “I never get sick of it.”
Among those taking it all in was Adrian Binns, a safari guide from Paoli, Pennsylvania, who went to the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area for “the whole enjoyment of seeing something you don’t see every day.”
Snow geese have been arriving in growing numbers at the 6,300-acre (25 square kilometers) Middle Creek property since the late 1990s.
At this time of year, they have just spent months along the Atlantic coast, from New Jersey south to the Carolinas, with many of them overwintering on the Delmarva Peninsula that forms the Chesapeake Bay.
They don’t stay long at Middle Creek — it’s just a way station on their journey to summer breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic and western Greenland.
But for a few short weeks, they are the main attraction at Middle Creek, which draws about 150,000 visitors annually — including about a thousand hunters.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission, which owns Middle Creek, says about 100,000 snow geese were roosting there on the busiest day last year, on par with recent peak activity but below the single-day record of about 200,000 on Feb. 21, 2018.
Snow geese are doing well, but their large numbers have come with a cost.
According to a 2017 study published by Springer Nature, greater snow geese grew in population from about 3,000 in the early 20th century to some 700,000 by the 1990s.
By some estimates, there are about a million of the birds now — along with maybe 10 million of lesser snow geese, which are smaller — that also breed in the Arctic.
NY Post
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Snow geese take off for the Arctic in mesmerizing sunrise display
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