- Holy cow, look at the snow geese landing back there.

- I know, it's just look at the swarm of them.

- Can you see that?

Those are all snow geese landing there.

That is magnificent.

I never get tired of this.

- There are tens of thousands of snow geese and tundra swans gathered in this field in an incredible display of waterfowl.

- Whenever I say waterfowl, it just it's hard to convey the actual spectacle of seeing tens of thousands of birds in a single area.

It's truly an incredible spectacle and we're really fortunate to have large numbers of tundra swans in this area.

- Tundra swans and snow geese are the stars of the show in the winter months on the coast of North Carolina at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.

- We are the premier wintering grounds for tundra swans.

We winter approximately 70 to 90,000 tundra swans.

The eastern population of tundra swans is just around 100 to 110.

So we're wintering close to 80 percent of the entire eastern population in North America in eastern North Carolina.

Snow geese, we winter 100,000 plus in eastern North Carolina.

- Snow geese numbers would range anywhere between 20,000 to I think one year I counted like 120,000 snow geese.

- Why are all these birds here?

The wildlife refuge provides prime winter habitat.

These birds overwinter in refuges up and down the coast but the Pungo Unit of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is one of the best places to spot them.

The Pungo Unit was established in 1963 and is part of the now 112,000 acre wildlife refuge that protects the unique Pocosin wetlands in this area.

- The Pungo Unit is named after Pungo Lake which is this lake behind us.

It is a natural blackwater lake and it's an important roosting and resting ground for migratory waterfowl which was what led to the refuge's initial establishment.

- As we were talking, thousands of snow geese took flight.

- Oh yeah there's the cloud.

That's incredible.

- The area around Pungo Lake includes wetlands and agricultural fields that provide habitat and food for migratory waterfowl to get through the winter and prepare for their migration back north.

- We have about 1,200 acres of cooperative farm fields and we have agreements with local farmers to farm it.

In exchange for being able to farm on the land, they leave a portion of their crop as rent for wildlife food.

They leave corn standing and that provides a really high calorie energy dense food source for these waterfowl and other wildlife that benefits as well.

- Waterfowl impoundments on the refuge are managed to hold fresh water, supporting wetland ecosystems and all of their flora and fauna.

- Those native plants provide essential minerals and nutrients that you won't find in just a corn diet and winter wheat diet.

- It's about providing habitat at the right time, the right condition and providing the highest quality habitat that we can in the landscape.

One huge factor that the refuge can provide that other lands are not likely to provide is the sanctuary.

Sanctuary is where these birds can rest and maintain their body condition because they're preparing as they overwinter, they're going to have to begin their migration in the spring and that's going to take energy.

- These birds aren't in North Carolina year-round.

They fly south via a route called the Atlantic Flyway each winter.

- In North America in the 1950s they identified four major flyways.

We're in the Atlantic Flyway, the easternmost flyway.

The swans that we're seeing behind us have come from the high arctic reaching from eastern Canada all the way to the north slope of Alaska.

- And these birds spend a big percentage of their year migrating back and forth.

- They're flying several thousand miles, likely over 3,000 miles, probably closer to 5,000 miles and they're doing that you know twice a year.

So it's quite a monumental migration.

And what's unique about tundra swans and high arctic nesting waterfowl is that they're migrating six months out of the year.

It requires a tremendous amount of energy.

- This migratory pathway has been in place for generations.

Parents teach their offspring the route.

- The young birds are kind of grayish and so there's a young bird kind of in the middle of this close flock here.

If you scan you'll see that it's all kind of a dusty color.

- To track how populations are doing people survey them by air and by land.

John Hammond is one of those people.

- I am currently working as a volunteer for the wildlife resources system here, particularly the Coast and Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.

My wife comes out and she's a great birder too and and a great spotter and she's helping me count.

Because once you get above two or three thousand individuals it gets really hard to track.

- John gave me a quick crash course in bird surveying.

How do you look at a field of thousands of birds and try to count how many of them there are?

- Well on this field there are huge numbers of tundra swans milling about and it is daunting to try to figure out how many there are.

But one technique we use is to identify a few degrees worth of sight and count the number of birds in that field of view.

One, two, three, four, my first field this time I've got about 80.

- I think that's about where I was headed.

You're much better at this than I am.

When you've counted how many birds are in one field, keep track of a landmark and pivot your binoculars to start a new field where the first one ended.

And once you know how many fields there are... - Then you can multiply it by the number of individuals within the within that first unit.

- It's also quite convenient that they're on the ground standing relatively still as opposed to flying through the air.

- It is much easier that way.

- Yes, I can imagine.

Well it's such important information to have right to know that the populations are doing well, the way the refuge is being managed is working, that's why we count them right?

- That's right.

- This spectacle draws tourists from all over the world.

You don't have to be a bird nerd to be in awe of the sight and sound of this unique North Carolina experience.

Oh cool.

And it doesn't get old, even for people who have been working with these birds for decades.

- Oh look at these, look at the swans coming in.

- I mean this is just unbelievable.

I mean it's just a marvel of nature.

It's almost like we can touch them.

- I know.

- I mean we're so close.

Wow.

35.

Yeah maybe 35, we might have as many as 40,000 here.

I think what's the most you ever counted?

- Most I ever counted was like 110, 120,000 and that was a conservative count.

- I mean I just wish everybody could experience this.

I mean what an appreciation for nature.

It's I mean right here for the American public.

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