Bird Flu

I am obsessed with the winter migration of the snow geese.  I look for them several times each year between December and March.  I start in Smyrna, DE in early December and watch them as they begin to gather at the Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge.  As I approach the refuge, I roll down my car windows and I can hear them. They are so loud.  And then I drive to the huge watering hole there and watch with great excitement as thousands and thousands of them rest on the water.  And I sit and wait for that moment when one of them, some of them decide  it's time to take flight. And they take to flight and so do the other 50,000 of them. The moment is just magical.

Sometime around February, I go up to Middle Creek Wildlife Refuge in Berks County, PA.  They gather in a watering hole that requires a short hike on my part. If it's too cold, I don't go there because I hate to hike and being cold just makes the situation worse.

But in March, they open the driving trail through the refuge and I go there, bring a lunch and just watch them all afternoon as they fly from the pond to the fields and then back again. I never tire of watching them take flight.

I can't get enough of these moments. But the last two years have been a great disappointment.  I've gone to these sites a few times and saw nothing. Where did the birds go?

So last year, I went all the way to Montezuma Wildlife refuge near Rochester, NY to see them. I knew this was part of their route. And I didn't see any.  I was disappointed. When I spoke to the park range, she told me that the numbers have been dwindling since the bird flu epidemic starts, two years ago. 

I miss these birds.