DELTA JUNCTION -- The geese are back, a firm sign of approaching spring.
A few dozen Canada geese were spotted Sunday at Delta Junction's Clearwater Lake, about 100 miles south of Fairbanks.
Delta Junction resident Bill Barron first heard the geese about 6:30 a.m. Sunday when his dog woke him up to go outside. Later that morning, he saw the birds in the open water from his lakeside home.
The sightings at the lake usually mean geese will begin arriving in Fairbanks within a week. In preparation, crews just plowed the fields at Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge.
The average arrival date in Fairbanks is April 15, but the first geese have arrived at least a week earlier for the past four years. Last year the geese were spotted on Clearwater Lake on April 1 and at Creamer's five days later.
This year's arrival still seems early to Barron, considering the cold weather during the late winter months.
But since geese were spotted around Anchorage recently, he was keeping his ears open. With the geese comes a sense that spring is on its way.
"It's kind of a sign here that the winter may be over," Barron said. "At least, it may be in sight."
-- The Associated Press
