Keith Woodley, manager of the Miranda Shorebird Centre, and Jan van de Kam, professional wildlife photographer, journeyed to the tundra to spend several weeks at the Refuge's historic Old Chevak field station.  Both came in the hopes of learning first-hand about the haunts and habits of the Bar-tailed Godwit (see Fish and Wildlife Journal, 09/07/2007, "Bar-tailed Godwit—Exemplar of Long-distance Migration and International Collaboration.")  Woodley, whose hand-painted murals adorn the visitor center at Miranda, is both an educator and a competent international shorebird aficionado, having joined expeditions to China and South Korea to study, capture, and mark migrant shorebirds. Van de Kam's photographs form the visual core of recently-published books such as "Shorebirds: A Behavioural Ecology" and "Life along land's edge: Wildlife on the shores of Reobuck Bay, Broome."  His images also grace the website of the Global Flyway Network, as well as numerous graduate theses and other scientific publications.

Distinct but related projects brought Woodley and van de Kam to the Yukon Delta NWR in spring 2007.  Woodley is currently writing a book about Bar-tailed Godwits, which annually make a round-trip migration of 29,000 km to and from his home in New Zealand.  His experiences with godwits in New Zealand, Australia, China, and South Korea illuminate his perspective, but he felt that his effort would be incomplete without a trip to their remote northern breeding grounds.  Arriving at Old Chevak in late April, when wintry conditions still prevailed, he was able to witness the transformation of the tundra from a silent and snowy landscape to a vibrant mosaic of wetlands throbbing with bird and insect life.  In the course of his six-week stay, he documented re-nesting in a pair of Bar-tailed Godwits, a phenomenon not previously confirmed on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.  With his wealth of new tundra experiences, he has now returned to New Zealand to continue writing in order to meet his publisher's November manuscript submission deadline.

Van de Kam journeyed to Old Chevak in mid-May to get the final images for a book on shorebird and wetland conservation in the East Asia/Australasian Flyway (see "Birdscapes," Fall 2004).  He was particularly interested in getting photographs of birds that use the Yellow Sea, including Alaska's breeding Bar-tailed Godwits.  During three weeks at Old Chevak, he captured images of godwits displaying, courting, fighting, and incubating.  His Old Chevak photos were literally the last ones to be incorporated into his book, which will be going to the publisher soon in time for an October release. 

This spring was not the first time that Old Chevak has served as the base camp for visiting artists in recent years.  In 2002, photographer and writer Michael Forsberg stayed at Old Chevak while collecting photographic images and experiences for his seminal work, "On Ancient Wings: The Sandhill Cranes of North America."  Two years later, author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Scott Weidensaul spent a week at Old Chevak as he retraced Roger Tory Peterson's continent-spanning journey a half-century earlier.  Weidensaul's reflections on the Yukon Delta refuge were recounted in his 2005 book, "Return to Wild America: A Yearlong Search for the Continent's Natural Soul."  Also in 2004, British artist James McCallum worked at Old Chevak as a volunteer for refuge biologist (and now education specialist) Brian McCaffery on a study of Bar-tailed Godwits.  McCallum's watercolor images from the Delta were published in his 2007 book, "Arctic Flight: Adventures Amongst Northern Birds" (see FWJ 10/31/2007, "Yukon Delta NWR featured in new book of paintings"). 

Yukon Delta NWR looks forward to the publication of both Woodley's and van de Kam's new books, which will serve as valuable resources for Refuge education and outreach.  Along with sound science, evocative art can go a long way toward promoting and sustaining the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System.