From the Carbon County area in about 1 hour and 30 minutes, you can reach an area to watch snow geese, Canada geese and tundra swans. This time of year, because of migration, you can see large numbers of those three at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area. If you can go for sunrise or sunset, you will get a great show.

A few years ago, I wanted to experience it at sunrise, and it was worth getting up early, making the drive and walking the path in the dark. (Bring along a flashlight so you can see the paved path.) While walking you will hear the birds, but you have no idea what sight at sunrise is waiting for you.

As the sun starts to rise the sound grows louder and louder until there is enough light to see the massive amounts of birds gearing up to take flight. It’s a color of white that covers the water’s surface and you notice small movement starting to spread until the first few start to leave and then a massive amount will follow.

Waiting for a bit, the next group starts doing the same thing and this continues until most leave the water to feed for the day. They will head off to feed in fields and then as time grows closer to sunset, groups will come back for the night.

This visit was for sunset, and the bonus was seeing a few bald eagles. Getting there about an hour before sunset allowed me to find parking, because it was a beautiful Sunday and there were a lot of people.

Walking along the paved path, I could see the white in between the trees. There were a decent amount of snow geese, and once I got to the watch area, I noticed the bald eagle sitting on the tree. Then focusing on the water tundra swans and the Canada geese were floating around as well. Plus, other eagles were snacking on fish.

Many observers had either binoculars or cameras, and everyone enjoyed the moment they were in. Yes, it was chilly, but it was worth it.

Families took the time to be there and hearing the children asking questions and pointing was fun to be around. Couples were keeping warm having their arms around each other and those of us with cameras were watching the scene intently.

The growing sound of the snow geese alerted us to their take off and that is a sight to be seen in person. A massive amount taking off at the same time is like nothing I had ever seen prior to going to Middle Creek. Then just as the colors of sunset were showing themselves, you could hear and see groups coming back for the night. The waxing gibbous moon added to the beautiful scene and made it easy to walk the path back out to the parking lot for the Willow Point Trail.

Even if you can’t make it down there in the next couple of weeks to see the snow geese but like to check out wildlife, give this place a try. They have a visitor center and museum, hiking trails, bird watching, and a seasonal self-drive tour for you to enjoy in lovely Lancaster County.

For more information, you can type in Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in the search engine or www.pa.gov and look it up on that site.