Yes, Spring time in Alaska!!!
It is finally Spring time after the winter’s record-breaking snowfall of 133.6 inches. We are having warmer temperatures in the high 40’s and low 50’s and people are out in their shorts, t-shirts and running shoes. Daylight hours extend to get the spring clean up duties done. We are all anticipating a wonderful and warm summer. There is lots of dirty snow, cars on which you can’t read the license plates, and pot holes on the roads you have to dodge, but the sun and the warmth are the real focus.
Then there are the signs of Spring with flowers peeking out of the snow and thousands of migrating birds returning. The birds come to breed, or to stop on long journeys to breeding areas elsewhere in the state. Westchester Lagoon, mudflats on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, and Potter Marsh are a few areas to see them. To name a few, the birds include Junco, Bohemian waxwing, Arctic Tern that fly as far away as the Amazon River in South America, Gulls, Mallard and Red-necked ducks, Tundra swans, Canada geese, Loons, Sandhill cranes, and beautiful Trumpeter Swans that are so graceful.
Of course, with Spring come bears ending their hibernation, moose everywhere, and many people out enjoying the longer daylight, gorgeous sunsets, and warmer temperatures. There are lots of things to see and do this time of the year.
Rita Gittins, Innkeeper for Alaskan Frontier Gardens Bed and Breakfast, is a member Anchorage Alaska Bed & Breakfast Association