PHOTOGRAPHER'S PERSPECTIVE ON LOCATION SERIES: VERMONT

DEAD CREEK WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA
ADDISON, VERMONT
Text and image copyright Heather Forcier, all rights reserved

ACCESS
The WMA is not gated and can be accessed at all times. However, the road is not well maintained in winter and deep snows can collect making it impossible to drive through.

AREA LAYOUT
The “goose viewing area” is right on Route 17 in Vermont, set up as a pull off. Passing this viewing area as it’s on your left there is a parking lot on the right before a small bridge that allows small boat access to the creek. Going over the bridge, turn down the dirt road immediately on the left. The drive is fairly short but takes you to the dams and walking paths.

WHAT YOU’LL FIND
Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area is best known for the masses of Snow Geese that collect during mid-October on their trek southward. During years of low rainfall the effects of DCWMA’s water management compound and extremely low levels expose mud flats and attract shorebirds in the September timeframe, such as Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs, Sanderlings, Least Sandpipers, Pectoral Sandpipers, plus a variety of other visitors. Peregrine Falcons that nest in the nearby cliffs of Snake Mountain swoop through and scatter the birds. Ospreys nest nearby and can be found hovering over the creek hunting for fish. Be prepared for muddy shorelines and the smell of dead fish if water levels are low.

Winter activity is somewhat quiet except for lingering raptors, quite visible in trees devoid of leaves. The occasional coyote and red fox can be spotted on the snow’s surface. Snow Buntings and Horned Larks may be seen with some frequency. Spring peels back the layers of snow and ice and reveals effects of the “winter kill” – fish suffocating throughout the winter, their bodies appearing with the thaw. This creates a feeding frenzy of mostly gulls around February and March and is a sign that the return of springtime wildlife is imminent. Bald Eagles are also known to be present at DCWMA at this time

Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, American and Least Bittern, Sora, and Virginia Rail along with a variety of ducks and among additional species may be found in spring or summer. However, clean shots are difficult to come by and the birds are often not easily approachable.

LIGHT
The goose viewing area along Route 17 faces over a field southward, with a roughly four and a half foot wire fence preventing human trespass into the field. With long enough focal length the apparent angle can be diminished for birds on the ground. Birds are constantly arriving and departing the fields and depending on wind direction their angle to the sun conditions might be favorable for flight shots.

The back part near the dams has a little more flexibility with views from a variety of angles, especially off the trails. However, there are trees at the eastern and western perimeters, so first and last light over much of the water is blocked.

Heather Forcier is a native Vermonter and Dead Creek is among her favorite places to photograph within the state for wildlife. Her web site www.hforcier.com.