Anchorage Daily News

Never mind that snow on the ground from Tuesday's winter storm.

Spring is in the air, making the next month prime time for bird viewing in Southcentral. Anchorage residents have Potter Marsh and the rest of Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge close to home, and next month brings popular birding festivals to Homer and Cordova. But sometimes overlooked among the best places to see migrants headed north is the 45-square-mile Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge.

"It's like a little doughnut hole in the biggest population center in the state," said Kris Abshire, president of the nonprofit Alaskans For Palmer Hay Flats. "Walk out 100 yards, and you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere."

Mat-Su Birders club president Bob Winckler agrees.

" Spring time is key," he said. "There's so much stuff coming through."

To help kick off the season, the Anchorage chapter of the Audubon Society is sponsoring a Bird Walk on the Hay Flats on Saturday -- and hoping this week brings higher temperatures. Cold weather has already postponed the event once.

"Things aren't usually quite this cold into mid-April," said Abshire, a fiber artist. "It's funny, though; these birds have internal clocks and they're tough. They fly above the weather."

The Alaska Legislature created the refuge in 1975 and later expanded it. Wetlands, mud flats, creek levees, lakes, ponds and tidal sloughs combine to make the hay flats a place where people fish and hunt as well as bird-watch and hike.

Each spring, thousands of birds stop enroute to summer nesting grounds. An estimated 150 species use the flats.

What can you see?

Canada geese, snow geese, trumpeter swans, sandhill cranes, greater and lesser yellowlegs, American widgeons, mallards, green-winged teal, goldeneye, common and Pacific loons and others all make an appearance.

An estimated 100,000 ducks, 50,000 geese and 5,000 swans use the area each spring.

The Alaska Audubon Society also considers the hay flats an important spring staging area for a small population of Tule white-fronted geese. This subspecies numbers only 5,000 to 7,000 birds and is considered vulnerable because of low productivity caused by disturbances to their breeding areas.

Despite all the spring bird life, Abshire estimates only a dozen or so birders are on the hay flats at any one time -- even "on a sunny beautiful day."

"Most folks only think of the hay flats as they're zipping across at 65 mph on the highway," she said. "Not only is it a great place to see wildlife, but there's history and some beautiful reflective lake walks and wood walks too."

Come fall, the refuge is one of the most popular waterfowl hunting areas in Alaska. And anglers fish for silver and red salmon on Cottonwood Creek and Wasilla Creek/Rabbit Slough in the summer and fall.

Bluffs surround much of the refuge. On Scout Ridge sits a roofed lookout built by an Eagle Scout. Abshire and others are seeking to add a natural science and education center that, with informational kiosks and a big parking area, will cost about $6.3 million.

PALMER HAY FLATS EVENTS

• Annual Audubon Bird Walk on the Hay Flats. Begins 9 a.m. Saturday at the Cottonwood Creek trail head. Flocks of snow geese and swans typically stop to rest and feed as they pass through on their way north.

Take the Parks Highway to the second exit to the right, Fairview Loop Road. Turn left at the stop sign and continue under the Parks Highway.

At the 'T,' turn right. About halfway up the hill, watch for the Fairview Loop Road sign and turn left. Continue for about 9.6 miles, past the elementary school, then watch for a paved road on the left called Hayfield Road.

Turn left onto Hayfield and travel about 1.2 miles. Watch for a sign on the right called Lucy Lake Road. Just past the sign is a narrow dirt road on the left (there may also be a Palmer Hay Flats sign).

Take this road as it winds down to the hay flats. Park on the left. Details: Sirena Brownlee at 929-8051; www.anchorageaudubon.org.

• Alaskans for Palmer Hay Flats annual meeting begins at noon Saturday at 1602 W. Jaime Marie Circle in Wasilla. Includes a bird walk and cookout as well as a presentation on birds of prey, with a great gray owl, red tail hawk and northern saw-whet owl on hand. Plus a bird rescue release. Details: 1-907-373-7484; www.palmerhayflats.org.

UPCOMING BIRDING EVENTS

• Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival: More than 25 species of shorebird are expected May 8-11 in Homer. Keynote speaker is Richard Crossley on the wild British birding scene. Information at www.homeralaska.org/events or contact Christina Whiting at 1-907-235-7740.

• Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival: Witness epic migration May 9-11 in Cordova. Kenai Fjords Tours and Prince William Sound Glacier Cruises offer a special tour with round-trip boat transportation from Whittier to Cordova for $149 adults and $100 for children under 12. Both fees also carry a 3 percent sales tax. Information at www.kenaifjords.com or www.cordovachamber.com.

• Morning Bird Walks at Campbell Creek Science Center: Join BLM biologist Bruce Seppi and Anchorage Audubon volunteer Sirena Brownlee to witness the return of boreal songbirds May 8, 15, 22 and 29 at 6:30 a.m.

Program introduces new birders to the habitats, songs and behaviors of common resident and migratory birds. Trips last about two hours. Call 267-1247 for information.

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