Sunday, March 3, 2013

55,000 Snow Geese

I have a confession to make, I don't really like learning about things in nature.  I appreciate and respect nature, but it has never been my thing to learn the names of plants, animals, flowers, etc.  I just like being outside and enjoying fresh air.  So yesterday's activity may come as a bit of a surprise.

On Friday, a coworker told me about a place called Middle Creek Wildlife Area in Lancaster County.  I don't quite understand how this works year after year, but it's a known "pit stop" for migratory birds.  Now migratory birds are interesting.  How do they know where to go?  When do they decide to stop for a break?  Why do they all fly together? 


So, how did it go to go bird watching with a 4 year old and a baby?  I think that bird watching requires a little too much patience for us at this time.   You stand and you watch and then you stand and watch some more.  For a 4 year old boy who is very used to "watching something" on tv, this was not exactly high flying excitement.  That is, until we arrived at the meadow where the birds were sitting for the day. 

55,000 snow geese in one place is a lot of geese!  Mostly they were just sitting, but some were honking and some were flying.  We tried to visualize what it would be like when they all took off to fly at one time.   I had noticed that there was a goose fight on the other side of the road and J kept telling me which geese were having a fight.  He wasn't correct, but once he started to use his imagination, the day got much better. Of course at that point, we were sitting in our warm car and watching the geese out the window! 

My migratory bird questions are still unanswered and will probably remain unanswered but I'm happy for the adventure a flock of geese to remember.

This picture was probably about 20% of the field.  It was a lot of geese!


8 comments:

  1. What a neat experience! This would require a lot of patience for a 4 year old. I'm not sure how long my 8 year old would be interested in all the birds... However, I would imagine your child will enjoy looking at the pictures you took.

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  2. That must have been an amazing sight! Thank you for sharing the pictures so I could experience a bit of it.

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  3. I would have loved to have been there. We don't get to see sights like this very often, so when there is such an opportunity it was good that you were able to do so. The pictures add to what you saw, although your words described it quite well.

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  4. What fun! So many questions - Do they are come at one time? Do they all leave at once? How long do they stay? What are they all eating?
    Can you tell I wish I had been with you? Thanks for sharing the pictures as well.

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  5. Wow! What an adventure that would be to see that many Geese in one spot. I imagine their honking could get quite loud. Loved the pictures!

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  6. I think Isabelle would love this, BUT I have a hatred of getting pooped on by birds. It has happened to me 2x in my life and I'm hoping the third time won't be a charm because I don't want there to be a third time.

    All that being said, I hope J had a great time using his imagination while watching all of the birds.

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  7. That is so cool. I'm glad you included pictures so we could see too. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Thanks for the pictures. Wow - 55,000 snow geese is a ton. The imagination of your son must have added some fun to the day.

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