WATERFOWL ON ICE AND IN FOG

      I noticed on our computer screen, because of a live camera, that the 400 acre lake at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, which is owned by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, was mostly frozen shut and covered with snow on February 15, 2021.  However, a few "puddles" of open water on that impoundment attracted the wintering gatherings of Canada geese, tundra swans and black ducks that rested on the lake so far this winter.  Between their feeding forays in nearby corn fields to ingest corn kernels, those handsome species of waterfowl by the thousands rested on the ice and snow on the edges of the open water, shrouded by a light fog caused by the air being warmer than the ice and snow. 

     The fog became a bit thicker in the late afternoon and early evening, blocking the view of dark,  deciduous woods bordering the snow-covered lake in the background.  The gray sky, fog and snow together made a bleak scene, but also a scene of desolate beauty.  And the elegant waterfowl resting on the edges of the puddles, or swimming in them, blended into the raw beauty of snow, fog and cold dampness.

     But in spite of those colorless conditions, the majestic geese, swans and ducks were comfortable in the company of their peers because their stomachs were full and their layered feathering kept them snug on ice and snow, and in the water.  And as the geese, swans and ducks rested in that seemingly desolation,  more small flocks of Canada geese and tundra swans, honking and whooping loudly, arrived over the lake, swung into the wind, group after group, and floated down as gently as snowflakes to the ice and gray water to rest, preen feathers and socialize. 

     As dusk grew darker and bleaker that evening, the geese, swans and ducks on the ice and water almost faded from view.  Meanwhile, more small, closer flocks of geese and swans, each bird's stomach filled with corn kernels, returned to the lake.  Each group, in turn, emerged from the fog, swirled into the wind for flight control, and landed gently on the ice or water.   

     Finally, the wonderful waterfowl on the lake faded from my view.  But I could still hear the geese and swans honking and whooping continuously in the near darkness.  Geese and swans call out constantly, day and night, which, I suppose, keeps their flocks together.  

     At any rate, I knew that all the geese, swans and black ducks on Middle Creek's impoundment were at home on the ice and water in the bleakness of the fog through the bitter, damp night.  

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