KLEINFELTERSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — A few dozen birdwatchers gathered in the predawn darkness to wait for the moment when thousands of migrating snow geese stopped honking and preening to suddenly take flight from a Pennsylvania reservoir.The mesmerizing display, about an hour after sunrise, was over almost as soon as it began. The birds circled a few times and then headed out to neighboring farm fields, seeking unharvested grains and other sustenance on their epic annual spring flight northward into New York state and Quebec.The Pennsylvania reservoir was built a half-century ago to attract waterfowl, and over the years the gaggle has grown. Pennsylvania Game Commission environmental education specialist Payton Miller described it as a raucous bird tornado that lifts off the water.AdvertisementAdvertisement“All it takes is for me to come out here on a really nice morning where there’s a huge morning flight and I’m kind of reminded how awesome it is to see such a large number of such a beautiful bird,” Miller said. “I never get sick of it.”Among those taking it all in was Adrian Binns, a safari guide from Paoli, Pennsylvania, who went to the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area for “the whole enjoyment of seeing something you don’t see every day.”Snow geese have been arriving in growing numbers at the 6,300-acre (25-square-kilometer) Middle Creek property since the late 1990s. At this time of year, they have just spent months along the Atlantic coast, from New Jersey south to the Carolinas, with many of them overwintering on the Delmarva Peninsula that forms the Chesapeake Bay.___AdvertisementAdvertisementSee the full AP photo gallery by photographer Robert F. Bukaty of snow geese at Middle Creek here.___They don’t stay long at Middle Creek — it’s just a way station on their journey to summer breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic and western Greenland. But for a few short weeks, they are the main attraction at Middle Creek, which draws about 150,000 visitors annually — including about a thousand hunters.The Pennsylvania Game Commission, which owns Middle Creek, says about 100,000 snow geese were roosting there on the busiest day last year, on par with recent peak activity but below the single-day record of about 200,000 on Feb. 21, 2018.AdvertisementAdvertisementSnow geese are doing well, but their large numbers have come with a cost. According to a 2017 study published by Springer Nature, greater sno …
