It was as though the Pennsylvania Game Commission called up birding central casting for the ribbon cutting of the new wildlife viewing platform at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Kleinfeltersville, Lebanon County.
State and local officials along with guests passed on the gravel path to the platform a killdeer pair protecting their nest with their “broken wing” distraction display, directing the visitors’ gaze away from the four speckled eggs that blended in perfectly with the stones alongside the pathway.
Middle Creek personnel had discovered the nest almost a month ago and hoped the eggs would have hatched and the young would have scurried into the grasslands on either side of the path before the event Friday.
But the plaintive calls of the killdeer offered a natural background sound to the speakers at the dedication.
As Steve Smith, the executive director of the game commission, began to offer his remarks, a bald eagle pair soared over Risser’s Pond, which the new platform off Chapel Road overlooks.
Bald eagles have nested at Middle Creek for several decades.
State Rep. Tom Jones, a Republican who represents parts of Lancaster and Lebanon counties that include Middle Creek, was moved by the eagle encounter.
“When I was a kid, there were no bald eagles,” he said. “In fact, I think back in ‘76 there were less than 72 breeding pairs in the lower 48 states.
“We had no bald eagles.”
He recalled how when his four children were growing up, he would see a bald eagle and freak out.
“I’d be like, ‘Look! A bald eagle!’” he exclaimed. “And for them, it’s just like, ‘Oh yeah, there’s another one.’ But we can’t take that for granted.”
Lancaster County Commissioner Alice Yoder stressed the importance spaces like Middle Creek have not only on the preservation of air and water quality, but on the quality of life.
“We really understand how much our mental health and well-being are part of that,” she said.
The new viewing platform offers a place that was previously closed off to the more than 110,000 visitors to Middle Creek each year, said Laura Richmond, visitor center manager.
“This is a different viewpoint than visitors would have had previously,” she said before the ceremony began.
Most visitors are acquainted with Willow Point, the main viewing area for the snow goose migration during the late winter.
“Willow Point gives you a nice view of the main lake,” she said. “This is a totally untapped area where guests have not been able to see before, and a really nice grassland habitat. We have forest edge here and wetland as well. So it’s a great, different opportunity.”
One of the unique features on the platform is a scope that helps colorblind visitors see the landscape and wildlife in vivid detail.
“We have the Enchroma scope, enhancing for red and green color blindness,” Richmond said, “so people with color blindness impairment can come out and get a nice view of the colors.”
To access the platform, visitors can park at the lot by the Chapel Road entrance or at the lot between stops 2 and 3 on Wildlife Drive and walk to the platform.
The platform will be open between March 1 and Sept. 30.
Source: Berkshire mont