I am lucky to be able to cover the Nazareth Quarry every year for the Bethlehem-Easton-Hellertown Christmas Bird Count. Our team makes it a point to get there by first light before many of the Snow Geese fly off to feed in the surrounding fields. Again this year, the quarry was filled wall-to-wall. This photo of a tiny portion of the quarry shows how densely packed the birds were.
With the quarry already filled, we discovered numerous, large skeins of birds in the eastern sky, coming from the direction of Merrill Creek Reservoir. In the late morning, it was literally "snowing" geese as about 20,000 birds returned to the quarry, which was still half-full at this point. I took a video clip of it with my cell phone. Due to the file size, I couldn't include it here, but you can watch it if you go to the following link. Turn up the volume and enjoy.
While checking the quarry for other waterfowl, Jason picked out a Ross's Goose. We also had "fly-by's" of 3 Peregrine Falcons (including one that chased and dove on one of four Common Ravens) and 3 Bald Eagles, two of which are in this photo.
Another surprise was this adult Golden Eagle. I managed to get this distant documentation photo of it before it headed east.
It was interesting that an immature Golden was seen here two years ago, raising the possibility of it being the same bird.
Although I get to see this Snow Goose spectacle annually, it still amazes me each time.
Really amazing. I was able to go to Middle Creek near Lancaster, PA last January to see a few thousand snow geese. The water wasn't quite covered bank to bank but was still amazing to witness. Nature is wonderful.
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