A colder winter meant more snow geese at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area this year, but the appearance of a highly pathogenic avian influenza made the season challenging for Middle Creek staff.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission released migration numbers in a statement earlier this month.
According to the release, “this year’s spring snow goose migration was nothing like one would have expected.”
“In previous years, we had record-warm winters, resulting in earlier migrations with lower goose numbers,” the release explained. “Low numbers were not due to a lower overall population of snow geese, but most likely due to the lack of ice and snow both at Middle Creek and to our north. Such conditions often keep geese to the south where it is ice and snow-free and prevents them from continuing their northern movements.”
In the 2024 spring migration, the report noted, flocks of snow geese arrived at Middle Creek in early December 2023 and peaked on Feb. 27, 2024, with 62,000 birds.
Pennsylvania’s average temperature in February 2024 fell around 33 degrees Fahrenheit, “with thin ice that thawed quickly, if we had any ice at all,” the report said. “There was also little mention of avian influenza in the southeastern portion of Pennsylvania, however some birds did test positive and have been since the highly pathogenic strain, currently impacting birds, first started getting detected in 2022.”
This year, on the other hand, was “interesting,” the report said.
“With the first ‘true’ winter the southeast has experienced in several years, Middle Creek experienced several inches of snow, ice, and overall cold temperatures,” it said. “Snow geese didn’t appear in high numbers until late January, peaking on February 18th with roughly 100,000 birds. In Pennsylvania, February’s average temperature for 2025 was 24 degrees Fahrenheit, making it almost 10 degrees colder than last winter. Our lake was nearly ice covered for roughly two months.”
Besides a much colder winter, the report said, “southeast Pennsylvania also experienced a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak that impacted Middle Creek and neighboring counties. The migration started off with a high publicity mortality event in the Lehigh Valley that resulted in many dead snow geese that prompted the Game Commission to respond. This outbreak resulted in the closures of several snow goose viewing areas at the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area. This was to reduce exposure of the virus for people and to bolster biosecurity for local poultry operations.”
The Middle Creek staff noted that “predicting anything regarding wildlife movements, habits, and behavior is always tricky. However, one can confidently say that no one could have predicted this year’s spring migration to be so unique and challenging.”
Questions about this story? Suggestions for a future LebTown article? Reach our newsroom using this contact form and we’ll do our best to get back to you.
Join our community of local news champions.
Cancel anytime.
Monthly
🌟 Annual
- Fewer ads
- Member newsletters
- Exclusive events
- All monthly benefits
- Most popular option
- Make a bigger impact
Already a member? Log in here to hide these messages
Our community deserves strong local journalism. LebTown delivers in-depth coverage of Lebanon County that helps you navigate daily life and stay informed about what matters most. Join our community of supporters with a monthly or annual membership to fuel more local reporting. Cancel anytime.
