不要错过哈 - 宾州中溪雪雁大迁徙

屈指一算,去年宾州看雪雁都快一年了。赶紧补写游记。 知道吗?宾州的中溪Middle Creek,就是摄影师梦寐以求的打鸟天堂。每年二月底至三月初,数以万计的雪雁,在墨西哥湾过完冬,返回加拿大繁殖,中途停在中溪休息。雪雁每年都要经历两次2500英里的飞行,3000英尺的高空,飞行时速40-50英里,蛮辛苦的。而且,人家吃的只是草和谷物啊!除了佩服还是佩服。雪雁数量和时间很难预测,完全看天气冷暖冰雪情况而定。

可以跟踪官网雪雁预报:

http://www.pgc.pa.gov/InformationResources/AboutUs/ContactInformation/Southeast/MiddleCreekWildlifeManagementArea/Pages/MigrationUpdate.aspx
 

摸索了小小经验,观看拍摄雪雁最好时间是:

1.下午至日落之间,天黑了它们就下到湖面不动了,漆黑一遍,啥也看不见,只能听到叫声。

2. 天蒙蒙发亮至日出之间,太阳一升起来,全飞走了。如果要看日落和日出,最好在附近住一个晚上。

我们是2016年3/11号下午3点到达的,已经有很多雪雁在湖面,湖边草地了。

当时看了一会,估计它们也不干嘛的,就走去停车场拿本书和衣服回来,风大的时候,挺冷的。

10分钟而已,结果,结果最大的那一群雪雁,铺天盖地的瞬间在湖边起飞,在人群的头顶上方,伸手就能摸到的距离,轻轻的飞向远方。。。

最壮观的那一刹那,我,完美错过了。当然,远远的也能看见,感觉完全不一样。错过了就错过了,因为当你不知道你错过了什么的时候,是无所谓滴。可是那老棉袄,三番五次的,喋喋不休的唠叨“可惜吧,那么壮观。。。”

后来,真的没有那么大群在头顶上空飞过了。所以呢,过来人的经验之谈,到了以后,千万不要离开哈!其实它们只是飞到不远的一块大草地,黄昏时再一群群的飞回来湖面过夜。

游客中心,观雪雁的徒步道入口

雪雁是这样的

突然吵杂声越来越大,然后就。。。

壮观!

飞来了这里,换个地方休息。

黄昏,雪雁开始回来。

一轮明月

次日清晨5点就爬起来离开酒店,到达湖边,众多大师长枪短炮的对着湖面,等待着。。。

太阳冉冉升起,几万只雪雁从湖面飞起,场面之壮观,用任何语言来形容都会显得苍白无力的,只能用感叹词哇塞,OMG,Wow, Wow......

半小时后全部飞走了。

七点就开飞了

恩恩爱爱

雪雁远走高飞了,天鹅的天下了。

野地里的野鸡

Lancaster是Amish聚居地,原始的乡村风味。

谢谢观赏!

完了可以顺路去长木公园Longwood Gardens玩玩

看看那个珍稀的喜马拉雅山花:

http://blog.wenxuecity.com/myblog/69648/201603/723285.html

下面是去年从官网上存下来准备写游记的雪雁预报信息。舍不得删掉,就留着看看。

03/17/2016: 

These few birds continue to linger, but they won’t be here much longer and the big numbers are not likely to return.

Snow geese: less than 5,000

Tundra swans: 200
Canada geese: mostly gone

03/13/2016:

Snow geese: 
                   Friday - 50,000 
                   Saturday - less than 20,000 
                   Sunday - less than 5,000 
Tundra swans: 200

03/11/2016:

Numbers appear to be holding steady. Saturday’s winds are forecasted to be blowing from the south, that should get birds moving. We’re unable to update the website on weekends, next report will be on Monday.

03/10/2016:

Swan numbers came up again yesterday, but it looked like a lot of those birds may have left for good this morning. Canada geese continue to pass over, heading north in large numbers. Snow geese tend to leave a little later than the Canadas and swans, but we’re nearing mid-March and I would expect we’ll see numbers drop with the next south wind.

Snow geese: 50,000 steady for now 
Tundra swans: 1,200 dropping

03/09/2016:

Snow goose numbers are holding steady for now, swan numbers appear to have dropped dramatically, and Canada geese are streaming north.

03/08/2016:

Snow geese: steady 
Tundra swans: 2,000 +

03/07/2016:

Numbers were up, then they went down, then they came back up. The waterfowl migration is in full swing, warm temperatures and favorable winds might convince birds to leave and head north this week.

Snow geese: 50,000 +/- 
Tundra swans: 1,600 +

03/04/2016:

It is apparent that snow goose numbers went up somewhat yesterday. Unfortunately no good current estimate is available, perhaps 20,000 or more. There are also reports of snow geese to the north of us, birds are moving. The duck migration has really picked up, lots of ducks of several different species present.

03/03/2016:

Yes, I was very surprised by this development too. The current cold-snap we are experiencing should not have been enough to drive that many birds back to the south. While there are birds moving north I would not have expected birds migrating through this area to be gone already. Since this seems to be a more “normal” spring, and it’s still early on the calendar, I would have expected to have lots of birds into mid-March. There is a possibility that birds are using a different waterbody nearby or they may have spent the night out feeding. Also, during the spring migration birds that push north may be replaced by birds still coming up from the south. To be honest I was surprised when I took a look at the lake this morning, saying to myself “where’d they go”? I’m not sure how this will play out, stay tuned.

Snow geese: less then 15,000 
Tundra swans: less than 1,000 
Canada geese: few

02/29/2016:

The buildup in numbers started late last week, waterfowl are on the move. Based on the behavior of some of the flocks of Canada geese and tundra swans this morning they may have pushed north when they left the lake this morning; migrating Canadas were passing over from the south to the north as well.

Snow geese: 65,000+ 
Tundra swans: 3,500+ 
Canada geese: lots 
Ducks: a diversity of species

02/23/2016:

Snow geese: 30,000+ 

02/22/2016:

Some snow geese showed up on Saturday and more came in at first light this morning. There has been some movement of waterfowl lately, we’ve picked up some ducks and Canada geese, swan numbers are holding steady.

Snow geese: 20,000+/- 

02/18/2016:

A few thousand snow geese showed up yesterday and a couple hundred more came in this morning, there is still very little open water on the lake.

Snow geese: 5,000+ 

02/16/2016:

The snow geese that were here last week left when the big freeze hit by the weekend, surprisingly the swans are toughing it out. The only open water remaining is off of Willow Point which is currently the best place to see whatever birds might be here. Today temperatures are in the forties and it’s raining which should eliminate most of the snow and perhaps some of the ice.

Snow geese: none 

02/11/2016:

I got a better look at swan numbers this morning, I’m surprised that there’s this many here given the conditions. The band of snow geese is still here too even though there is not much open water on the lake. Short-range weather forecast is calling for bitterly cold temperatures, numbers will probably not increase until we experience a thaw.

Canada geese: several hundred 
Tundra swans: 1,300+ 
Snow geese: 5,000+ 

02/09/2016:

Warmer temperatures and rain melted much of the snow that was here last week and a few thousand snow geese showed up. However, it is now snowing again and temperatures are expected to plummet in the near term which should put the brakes on waterfowl migration.

Canada geese: several hundred 
Tundra swans: several hundred 
Snow geese: 5,000+ 

02/02/2016:

First Report of 2016: Lots of snow and ice are keeping things pretty quiet, not many birds here. Until conditions change dramatically it will probably remain this way.  It is also still early on the calendar for birds to be on the move.

Canada geese: several hundred 
Tundra swans: several hundred 
Snow geese: none 

Snow geese: 110,000 on 03/15/15 

Tundra swans: 3,000+ on 03/27/15 
Canada geese:1,800 on 03/16-12/15

It was the coldest February/March combination on record locally, and the ice-cover on the lake bore testament to that. I've long held the belief that open, ice-free water is a prerequisite before large numbers of the large waterfowl will show up. That was not the case this year, the birds had no choice but to roost (sleep) on the ice if they were heading north. The photoperiod (the amount of daylight) is what really drives the migration, although it is affected by weather conditions. As days get longer in the spring birds that migrate get the urge to start moving back towards their breeding grounds, sometimes regardless of conditions. It was an interesting migration season, they all are.
秋影萍踪 发表评论于
很壮观!谢谢分享。
飘飘欲仙 发表评论于
回复 '风水纵横' 的评论 : 谢谢美言!
飘飘欲仙 发表评论于
回复 '为写而写' 的评论 : 是应该看一次,还是免费的,谢谢
飘飘欲仙 发表评论于
回复 '茵茵梦湖' 的评论 : 谢谢美言!
茵茵梦湖 发表评论于
好壮观呀!大自然的奇迹,还是第一次近距离看到雪雁,博主拍得真好,谢谢,收藏了,一股清气。
为写而写 发表评论于
天,这个太壮观了。有机会也去看看。谢谢分享!
风水纵横 发表评论于
我的天!那些白鸟像满树的繁花。那些飞翔的鸟、.....你拍的好极了!
飘飘欲仙 发表评论于
回复 'erdong' 的评论 : 谢谢美言。湖附近都是乡村,没有什么旅馆。我们住的酒店是在Ephrata的Hampton Inn, 离那湖10哩。
erdong 发表评论于
照片拍得很棒!太壮观了!谢谢分享。
一直很想去那里,但路程太远,得先飞去宾州。吃不准买什么时候的票:(
能不能推荐附近的旅馆?
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