THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 13, 1995 TAG: 9512130033
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LISE OLSEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
FROM THE northern reaches of Canada and Alaska, tourists are flocking here in the tens of thousands. Their common quarry: Waterfront property where they can hunker down, forage for submerged roots and graze on waving grain.
Just as fall marks the Shriners' return to the Oceanfront, winter heralds the return of the snow goose and tundra swan to the refuges of coastal Virginia and North Carolina. Thousands of the huge white birds now blanket local marshes and fields, offering one of December's most spectacular displays of sight and sound.
In fact, some of the best places in the country for seeing wintering swans and geese lie within easy reach of Hampton Roads. Most of the U.S. population of the tundra swan pass through or winter at Lake Mattamuskeet in North Carolina. And snow geese favor several local refuges.
Tundra swans, also called whistling swans, have fared better than their bigger and rarer cousin, the trumpeter swan, because of efforts by conserva ionists in places like Lake Mattamuskeet, about three hours south of metro Hampton Roads. Still, the swans number only about 100,000 nationwide - most of whom stop off or winter at the North Carolina lake. For months, the calls of the birds will echo throughout the refuge - gentle hoo-hoo-hoos that earned them the nickname Whistling Swan.
If he only understood what they said, Refuge Manager Donald E. Temple says, he could unlock all their secrets. ``They talk a lot!''
Snow geese - more common, and smaller, but just as beautiful - also can be seen in huge numbers at local refuges. One of their very favorite spots is just south of Virginia Beach at Mackay Island Wildlife Refuge. Back in the 1970s, Mackay Island's marshes gave shelter to as much as half of the Greater Snow goose population.
Now that the birds have made a comeback, they're common in several area refuges. But Mackay Island's marsh causeway - which cuts through the heart of the refuge - still provides some of the most spectacular vistas of the white birds. (Just remember to pull off to the roadside, because locals drive 55 mph on the straightaway). Sharp-eyed visitors will also see a bird that looks like an optical illusion: Blue geese, an unusual phase of the snow goose.
Ken Merritt, the refuge manager, expects as many as 20,000 snow geese to show up this month. He's had as many as 40,000 at a time. As often as he's seen them, Merritt still gets excited about their arrival.
``I can't point to another area where someone can get so close to the snow geese,'' he said. ``It's also quite a spectacle just stopping and listening to all of them.''
On a recent afternoon, snow geese - traveling in long, waving lines - made their way back to Mackay Island after a day of feeding in nearby fields. The lines stretched as far as the eye could see, shimmering on the horizon like rogue heat waves in the winter sky. In a nearby pool, a smallish gaggle settled in to forage for roots. After about five minutes, the group sent out a sentry, which flew by the visitors, let out a muted honk and dropped a small bomb of excrement. This is their turf - and they want you to know it.
The waterfowl used to favor wintering grounds in the Chesapeake Bay, but many now prefer sites farther west or south because pollution has reduced an important source of food - underwater aquatic vegetation. Though conditions are improving in the Bay, the birds find plenty of clean, safe havens in the refuges of the Atlantic Flyway that line the North Carolina and Virginia coasts.
Swans and geese are the largest of the winter visitors, but they travel with pack of others: Canada geese, diving and shoveling ducks, funny-faced coots, shy grebes and all manner of waterfowl. Most refuges have signboards, visitors centers and pamphlets that can help you sort out the birds.
Binoculars and a really good birding book - like the National Audubon Society's ``Field Guide to North American Birds'' - will deepen your appreciation.
Refuge managers spend all year preparing for the migration: digging pools, planting crops, reseeding marsh grass in an effort to make their spots more attractive to the winged tourists. Virginia Beach's Back Bay refuge, which unfortunately is mostly closed to visitors at this time of the year, just finished a series of improvements for the birds that cost $750,000. Much of the refuges' reason for being comes from helping the fowl to rebuild numbers of some badly depleted species like the black duck, or even the Canada goose, which is migrating in surprisingly small numbers this year.
Many of the refuges already are full of birds - though the numbers of snow geese are expected to swell dramatically in the coming weeks at Mackay Island. Though the birds spend much of the winter here, they tend to disperse more to feed in January.
So if you want to see Swan Lake - or a Christmas goose - 'tis the season. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by Tamara Voninski/THe Virginian-Pilot
Above: Tundra swans, viewed through the trees, at Knotts Island in
North Carolina. Below: Thousands of snow geese flock over Knotts
Island at sundown.
[Side Bar]
Where to see waterfowl
For copy of sidebar, see microfilm
by CNB