Scenes of Vermont Forums

We are heading up to Dead Creek WMA on Friday to check out the snow geese migration for the first time (I just found out about this place by accident thru the MA Audubon website) and I have a few questions.
Has anyone witnessed this spectacle? Do the snow geese really come by the thousands to this area every year in the middle of October? It sounds awesome! Is Dead Creek the best spot for viewing these flocks, or are there other areas to check out as well?
Also, knowing that the foliage in this area is normally past peak by mid-October but is running a bit late this year, do you expect that there will be any areas of good color left around the Burlington/Middlebury area by next weekend?
We are coming up from the Boston area via I-89 & planning to exit at Waterbury and go the back roads to Addison, but we are open to alternative routes across Vermont if they would be more colorful. We love back roads, and dirt roads are fine so long as they are passable in a regular car. Thanks in advance for your advice!

The geese really do come in by the thousands and are usually very visible from the main roadside viewing area. The latest report is that there are 2,000 - 3,000 there now. They move around as they feed and aren't always visible in great numbers, so it's hard to predict the best viewing spot on any given day.

Your route is fine, but an alternative is to exit at Route 4/Woodstock, travel west to Route 100 north, then cross over the Green Mtns. on one of the "Gap" roads like Route 17. It may take a little longer, but not much.

A slower route that can be good for birds and foliage is to follow route 2 all the way across Mass to Williamstown, head north on Route 7, then take route 30 to Middlebury. There are a lot of farms along route 30 and migrating ducks and geese are more visible than in the heavily forested Green Mountains. However, it will add at an hour or two to your drive. It's about 3 hours from Williamstown to Addison by this route.

Watch out for traffic in Middlebury this weekend. The Williams/Middlebury football game is Saturday.

I was down there yesterday. There was a medium size flock down back in the corn fields. It’s not easy take photos when they are down there, even with the 10x zoom on my camera. When the food runs out they come right up to the fence. It’s quite a show when that happens. Hopefully it will be next weekend. Dead Creek is on route 17, 1 mile west of the junction of route 22A in Addison. There is a long parking area on the left side. The geese will be on the south side of the road most of the time, so you will be facing the sun. And keep looking back. The incoming flocks can sneak up on you. If you continue west on RT.17 a short way you will go over a small bridge. Just past the bridge, on the left side you will see a dirt road on the left with a green and yellow sign at the beginning. Drive that road out back. Drive that dirt road until you come to a parking area on the right side and the road does a sharp turn to the left. There is a road with a gate at the top of the curve. Park there and walk the gated road. There are a couple of back bays out there. There is no telling what you will see out there. The Missisqoui Wildlife Area has a trail out back of the old headquarters. Take I-89 up to exit 21 and turn left route 78 west. Drive through Swanton village and in about 2 miles you will come to a straight section of the road with an old motel on the left side. The old headquarters are just past the motel on the left side. Turn into the parking lot and you will see the trail. I haven’t done this trail yet, but have heard good things about it. The Champlain Valley is a slightly warmer climate than the rest of the State, so the foliage turns later. Right now the foliage is early. It should be good next weekend. Best viewing will be east of route 22A. Route 30 south of Middlebury is usually a good ride. The alternative route is better except I would take route 73 west to route 22A north from route 100 in Rochester. The foliage on route 100 south of Granville to a beating last weekend.

I was there this past weekend and there were very few and they were very far away. I have a travel companion who has a 500mm lense and they were just too far for him to view or photograph. There just must not be too many there yet. The warmer weather that Vermont has been having that is delaying the Fall colors may also have delayed the migration.