Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge
The first of the many waterfowl have arrived in Fairbanks. The Canada geese started arriving the first week in April. So far all I have seen is the Canada geese and a few Trumpeter swans. The first day they landed it was still a field of snow. The refuge had to get the plows out and move the snow.
Creamer's Refuge, a mosaic of forests, wetlands, and fields supplies wildlife with a wide variety of food resources, shelter, and nesting sites. These different habitats provide homes for a diversity of animals on the refuge. Creamer's Refuge is important to countless birds, but it plays a special role in the lives of migratory birds. Even though some birds stay for only a short time, they still depend on prime habitat at Creamer's Refuge to feed and rest each spring and fall en route to their nesting sites further north or their wintering grounds to the south. Common examples of these temporary residents include Canada geese, pintails, and golden plovers. Other birds such as sand hill cranes, shovelers, and mallards may remain the whole summer, sometimes nesting at Creamer's Refuge. While migratory birds concentrate on the refuge, visitors may look forward to excellent bird watching opportunities.Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge is an 1.800-acre bird observatory on College Road in Fairbanks. It used to be Charles Creamer's dairy farm, till 1966, when he sold it to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Founded in 1904 Creamer's Dairy is the oldest in the state of Alaska and the northernmost in the Western hemisphere.
