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Travels in America di James Weaver

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Jimi il peruviano d’America

Philadelphia, dove suona la Campana della Libertà

Pennsylvania, where the Big Birds fly

Alla scoperta degli “Snow Birds” nel Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area. Un viaggio a contatto con la Natura americana, raccontato con la solita maestria descrittrice di James Weaver.

Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area is located in Central Pennsylvania. A beautiful natural setting of forest and open fields, owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, it is dedicated to the protection and management of wildlife. A large man-made lake provides important habitat for migrating waterfowl.

My wife and I recently visited Middle Creek to witness the annual northern migration of hundreds of thousands of Snow Geese. The geese are native to North American and migrate in early March from their wintering habitat in the southern United States and Central America to breeding grounds in northern Canada beyond the Arctic Circle. It is estimated there are over five million Snow Geese and the population is growing.

The birds travel more than 5,000 miles (8046 km) each year in large flocks at high altitudes and at speeds of 50 miles (80.5 km) per hour or more. They instinctively follow the same routes or “flyways” each year. There are four well defined flyways in the USA.

It is a spectacular experience to view many tens of thousands of large white birds feeding in open fields and resting on the lake. The annual event attracts hundreds of serious bird watchers and
many more casual visitors to Middle Creek.

The fantastic annual migrations that birds make between their breeding and wintering grounds is one of the wonders of our natural world. Some routinely accomplish amazing feats. In Asia, Bar-headed Geese regularly migrate over the Himalayan Mountains, even over Mt. Everest at an altitude of 30,750 feet (9375 m).

Snow geese breed from late May to mid August, before leaving their nesting areas in the far north. They spend more than half the year on their migration to and from warmer wintering areas. Many Canadians and U.S. citizens living in cold weather states also head south in the winter to escape cold and enjoy the warm sun. Sometimes they are called “snow birds.”

The name seems very appropriate.