Bill Leslie: Thousands upon thousands of birds swarm NC coastal town

Thousands upon thousands of snow geese and tundra swans are putting on a magical show around Pungo Lake in Washington County.

It is a primal sky dance with a gargantuan gaggle of geese and swans.

It is a cold late afternoon in winter on this national wildlife refuge near the upper North Carolina coast.

Here these birds feed in the farm fields during the day.

Later, they retreat to the dark-blue Pungo waters for the night.

These trumpeting tundra swans traveled here from Alaska and Canada as did their feathered friends, the snow geese.

It was an arduous journey of several thousand miles, but an estimated 100,000 waterfowl make the trip every year.

Pungo has the largest concentration of migratory birds in North Carolina. Naturalists say the geese and swans will be here for a few more weeks before moving on.

The drive from Raleigh to see this wildlife spectacle is about two and a half hours. For photographers it is an intoxicating habit.

Watching the geese and swans take flight, fluttering down into flocks on farm fields before soaring off again, is sheer delight. This goes on from the golden light of morning until the rose-colored sunset when the activity really picks up.

What an exhilarating way to pass the time on a cold winter’s day!