Middle Creek (4-Mar-2017)

I had never been to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area during the annual waterfowl migration. More than a couple people told me it was a sight to see and when I found out Rick Wiltraut from Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center was running a program there, I had to go. Most of the group drove down with Rick from Jacobsburg and some of us met them there. For me it was closer just to drive to Middle Creek. Above Rick is starting the program in Middle Creek's Education Center. He explained the importance of the Management Area and went over the species that we might come across while taking the tour. From the center it was down to the water! 

Tundra Swans were the first thing I saw. There large size and numbers at the first stop drew me right to them even though there were other birds around. Much of the management area has restricted access, but there are a few places, like this roadside stop where you can get up close to the birds. In total just off the road I would estimate that there were over a hundred Tundras that could be seen. 

These are shots of the group closest to the road. In the photo on the right you can clearly see the size difference between a Tundra Swan and a Canada Goose.

There were many good flybys throughout the day that started with this Great Blue Heron. Over the winter I do not get to see to many of these. Most migrate out of my area during the cold months.

A Canada Goose coming in for a landing. We did see a lot of Canadas on the water, but no where near the numbers of Tundra Swans and Snow Geese.

A small group of American Coots were swimming and feeding close to the road. None of the birds seemed to mind all of the people standing on the side with cameras, scopes and binoculars. 

The group from Jacobsburg taking in all of the birds. As you can see everyone is bundled up. Temperatures which had been unusually warm dropped sharply and it felt like we were thrown back into winter. 

At a stop on the driving tour of the management area, we had our closest look at Northern Pintail flying over head. 

At the same stop as the Pintail I got my favorite photo from the trip. Three Tundra Swans went right overhead!

The main flock of Snow Geese were on a smaller pond in a restricted area. Here the group is getting a very distant look at the birds that numbered in the tens of thousands. 

The geese blanketed much of the pond and some of the surrounding fields. This was really the best look we had at them all day. 

This Snow Goose was all alone in a field. It looked as though it may have a wing issue. With so many geese in one area there are bound to be some that get injured. If this goose couldn't fly, it most likely fed some of the other local wildlife.

As a result of the cold snap we weren't seeing as many species as we had hoped so the group decided to start heading back and bird another location where recently a rare bird had been sighted. Tyler Sacks and I did one more walk to a point on the lake before leaving. I was happy I stayed. Going out to the point we found the main group of Tundra Swans! There had to have been around a thousand! After walking back, both Tyler and I decided to try to catch up with the group.

We did find them and although we did not see the rare bird we were looking for we did make a stop to see a common bird with a rare coloration. This is a wild leucistic Red-tailed Hawk. It is amazing that this almost entirely white bird survived into adulthood and seems to be doing well. 

From this view you can see some red in the tail feathers. It was a cool bird to see and it was awesome that it flew towards us when we stopped. For such a cold day this was a great program. If you would like to see other programs Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center offers throughout the year you can visit: Jacobsburg's Calendar of Events.

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Mauch Chunk Lake (28-Feb-2017)

On this day I only had enough time to make a short stop at Mauch Chunk Lake and couldn't get out for a clean-up. At the lake I was surprised to find six Tundra Swans on the upper end. I then got a real treat. Something on the other side of the lake scared them and they took off. Then they did a large circle in the air and flew right by the blind I was in. It was just awesome watching these huge birds pass by so close. They then landed and settled on the water a little further down the lake. 

Before this year I had never seen a Tundra Swan. Now because of the weather we have had I have now seen them on multiple lakes around the area. 

I also spotted these two Painted Turtles trying to catch some sun. 

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Locust Lake and Tuscarora State Park (26-Feb-2017)

I took two short walks at Locust Lake and Tuscarora State Parks. I was looking more for birds than I was for trash. I had recently found out that there were four Tundra Swans on Locust Lake and they were the main reason I went over there. Above is the best shot I was able to get of them. 

At Locust Lake I did pick up a handful of trash, really nothing to write about, but there was this. I found several of these on the path around Locust Lake. I opened one up and found that it was full of nonsense. Who goes through the trouble of making something like this and why would they spread it around a State Park? 

Other than the Tundras, I didn't see much at Locust Lake. I then drove over to Tuscarora in hopes that there would be more waterfowl on the water there. 

No waterfowl, but this Belted Kingfisher was flying around the boat launch. I have found that Kingfishers usually don't stick around for photos. This one did and posed a few times in different trees around the launch. 

Like at Locust I didn't pick up much trash on this short walk either. Above is probably my best photo of a Kingfisher so far. 

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