A spruce grouse sits in a tree during spring breakup. Kanuti Refuge. Christopher Harwood/USFWS. May 11, 2008.

A muskrat nibbles on decadent vegetation emerging through the snow. Kanuti Refuge. Wild North Photography/USFWS. April 2008.

The Kanuti Lake administrative cabin (in the center of the photo) is inaccessible by boat, floatplane and ski-plane during breakup. Mike Spindler/USFWS. May 7, 2008.

In Alaska, the term "spring-out" means spending spring at a remote site through the annual thaw of river ice. For the first time in more than ten years, a four-person crew comprised of the Kanuti Refuge bird biologist and three volunteers “sprung-out” at the Refuge’s remote administrative cabin at Kanuti Lake. Refuge staff wanted to document spring phenomena including breakup and bird migration.  Breakup in Alaska occurs when snow and river ice rapidly melt, creating massive amounts of slush, numerous puddles, and often flooding. There are no roads on the Refuge, and the cabin is usually accessed by boat, floatplane, or ski-plane.  During breakup, a helicopter would be the only means of transportation for several weeks until rivers and lakes are ice-free and safe to access.  Consequently, the crew knew when they landed on Kanuti Lake via ski-plane that they’d be there for at least a month, waiting until conditions allowed them to be picked up again by floatplane.

Arriving at the cabin April 12, the crew weathered three weeks of subzero and subfreezing temperatures and late April snowfall, patiently waiting for breakup to begin. The first migratory birds (geese and raptors) arrived on April 21, but the extended winter conditions seemed to delay bird arrivals.  Nevertheless, the crew’s three volunteers—all photographers (two professional, one amateur) ventured into the field and obtained excellent images of winter scenery, resident birds such as Great Gray Owl and Spruce Grouse, and mammals like muskrat, beaver, and vole-hunting red foxes!

Spring finally started to arrive in early May, with considerable changes in the lakes and rivers noted, as well as ever-increasing numbers and species of migratory birds.  The biological crew supplemented their general reconnaissance work with more rigorous surveys for Rusty Blackbirds (a declining bird of continental concern, though quite common locally.) The crew also surveyed tundra-breeding large shorebirds, finding large numbers of breeding Whimbrels, as well as fewer (but still significant) numbers of breeding Hudsonian Godwits. These are two species of hemispheric concern so noteworthy that shorebird researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Alaska Science Center were notified.  Consequently, several USGS parties are now interested in utilizing the Kanuti Lake area next year as a study site to band and deploy transmitters on both bird species.  Refuge staff look forward to helping these researchers add Kanuti Refuge to their work on similar species in western Alaska.