Waterfowl Wintering in a Cove

     During at least one afternoon every November or early December, for the last several years, I visit a little, shallow-water cove on the west shore of the 400-acre, human-made impoundment at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in southeastern Pennsylvania to view a few common species of wintering waterfowl, including flocks of Canada geese, tundra swans, black ducks and mallard ducks.  Those kinds of birds rest and digest, and preen their feathers, between feeding forays, either in mixed groups or gatherings of their own.  That mixing of waterfowl creates interesting and lovely combinations of colors, shapes and sizes on the water.  And all those birds "tip-up" to extend their necks and beaks down to ingest aquatic vegetation from the bottom. 
     I sit in my vehicle on a blacktop road that tightly parallels that lake so I can get close views of the attractive geese, swans and ducks, without scaring them away.  Most types of wildlife are frightened by the human figure.
     I pick November or December, before hordes of snow geese land on Middle Creek's impoundment and dominate it.  It's difficult to concentrate on lesser numbers of waterfowl when several tens of thousands of snow geese are on the lake and nearby fields.
     The shallow cove is bordered on two sides by crack willow trees, patches of cattails and rushes, a few red-twigged dogwood bushes and a couple of winterberry shrubs, profusely decorated with red berries.  That vegetation of moist bottomlands provide food and cover to a variety of wildlife in winter, including mukrats, white-tailed deer and a variety of berry-eating birds.
     The majestic Canada geese often dominate the cove with their ceaseless, loud honking, and numbers.  They have gray feathering on their large bodies, and black ones on their heads and long necks, making those features resemble black stockings.                  
     Elegant and white tundra swans sometimes dominate the cove, either themselves or together with the Canadas.  Both stately species rest on the water, but take off, flock after bugling or reedily whooping flock, into the wind and form V's and long lines as they fly to harvested corn fields to consume harvested corn or to winter rye fields to ingest the green shoots of winter rye plants. 
     Often the geese and swans are beautifully silhouetted against brilliant sunsets.  And sometimes they land on snow covered fields and disappear in and out of drifting snow, tinged pink by sunsets.  
     When full of grain and green shoots, those large birds fly back to Middle Creek's lake, group after group, and come in for a landing on the water's surface with webbed feet and long necks extended, their reflections racing through the water to meet their impacts on it.
     The dark, rugged-looking black ducks wind through groups of geese and swans in the cove, offering interesting contrasts in colors and sizes.  These large puddle ducks, along with their close cousins, the mallards, join geese and swans in harvested corn fields to shovel up waste corn.  There the geese, swans and ducks form beautiful, mixed groups.  Mallard hens are brown with darker markings that blends them into their backgrounds so they're not so visible to predators.  Mallard drakes, on the other hand, are more decorative than their mates, with yellow beaks, iridescent, green heads and bright orange webbed feet.      
     When these two kinds of ducks take flight from water or soil, one can hear their wings pulsing rapidly and rythmically, and a hen's occasional quacking.  Look up quickly, and you might see gangs of these ducks sweeping across the sky, often in front of brilliant sunsets.
     Though common and everyday in southeastern Pennsylvania in winter, I never tire of seeing these beautiful birds, through the day, or at dusk.  They are all handsome, and add much beauty and intrigue to this area's farmland through much of each winter.