Jim Binder Quotations

What has made Middle Creek so vital to waterfowl is its habitat diversity. Middle Creek is a shining example of progressive wildlife management. Through wildlife plantings, habitat enhancements, and wetland creation and manipulation, Middle Creek has been molded into an area that now rivals the Susquehanna River in waterfowl appeal. It has evolved into a waterfowl oasis in a section of the Atlantic Flyway dominated by intensive farming and development.

Toward sunset, waterfowl by the thousands converge on the main impoundment, so long as there's open water. The sunset return and sunrise liftoff are about the only movements we can predict snow geese and tundra swans will make. When they may arrive, where they go to feed and how long they stay at Middle Creek are strictly up to the birds and closely related to weather conditions.

This morning 40,000 of them turned up missing. Reports indicate that the birds have abandoned their wintering grounds in Delaware and that snow geese are showing up in New York. It is unclear whether the birds that stopped here briefly and then left recently still are somewhere at this same latitude or if they have pushed north. It would be somewhat early for large numbers of snows to be north of us but the movements of these birds is hard to predict. As soon as conditions permit they will usually try to push north, but if they encounter much snow or ice they will again retreat southward.

If you come to Middle Creek, you will see wildlife. But it's always best to come early or late in the day. That's when things are happening. That's prime time.