Middle Creek Tundra Swans

The first rays of the morning sun falls across Tundra Swans awaking to a new day

Tundra Swans stop in at Middle Creek on their way northward to the summer breeding grounds.  It was estimated that somewhere around eight thousand were present during our recent visit.

Shortly after sun-up the swans began flying off the lake.  The sun was still low in the eastern sky lighting these birds from below when I captured this flight image.

The low angle sun causes this tundra swan to glow as it passes over my position

Tundra Swans gracefully coming in for a landing

Middle Creek, located in Pennsylvania's Amish Country, is an excellent place to visit during late winter.  The incredible flocks of waterfowl are a sight to behold.  Tens of thousands of snow geese, thousands of Canada Geese, thousands of Tundra Swans and numerous duck species abound providing photographic opportunities galore.  Middle Creek is an excellent location for flight shots however it is not particularly note worthy if close-up waterfowl images are your goal. 

Middle Creek is managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission with waterfowl hunting in mind.  Numerous shooting blinds are located in the fields surrounding the shallow water lake but no such accommodation are provided for the casual visitor or photographer.  Visitors are restricted from nearly all of the management area except for a narrow area along the roadways.  This area is clearly marked with a single strand wire fence forming the line one is not allow to cross.  With only a very few exception potholes and other waterfowl habitat is out sight or out of reach of even the longest telephoto lenses.  The few exceptions that do exist occur along the road where viewers and photographer congregate.  Even this limited people pressure results in the waterfowl moving away from the people requiring the use of long telephoto lenses to acquire a photograph that even remotely resembles a waterfowl portrait.   

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