Alaska Birds
Listen in RealAudio
Email your weather question

Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton and this is the Weather Notebook.

Among Alaskan residents, hope springs eternal for longer, lighter days after the cold, dark winters of the Far North. People in Fairbanks watch for the arrival of migratory birds to signal spring but, as correspondent Amy Mayer reports, the return of Canadian Geese does not guarantee balmy temperatures.

During the first half of April, flocks of Canada geese will land at the Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge in Fairbanks. But just because the birds are back, doesn't mean it's warm outside. Refuge manager, John Wright says it's not temperature that jumpstarts the birds travel instincts.

Wright: The thing that stimulates spring migration is the change in day length.

He says the birds leave their winter homes in Washington and Oregon right around the spring equinox in late March, regardless of the temperature or weather.

Wright: That's the secondary influence there. If there's a major storm and headwinds come through, the birds will stay on the ground usually and wait for a better time to go with.

Spring time in Fairbanks is marked by long days, but that doesn't mean snow is gone or temperatures are warm. Some years, the birds get here and are greeted with a heavy snow dump or hard freeze. Wright says that doesn't hurt the birds much, because they don't nest here. Severe weather CAN be a problem further north.

Wright: There have been studies of arctic nesting geese where it’s been shown they'll lay smaller clutches or sometimes even have complete nesting failures due to late spring on their nesting grounds.

In a good year, the geese get plenty to eat in Fairbanks and arrive in the springtime arctic ready to spawn the next generation.

Amy Mayer keeps track of spring in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington Observatory. It is supported by the National Science Foundation. Thanks today to producer Margaret Landsman, who longs for spring and birds.