PHOTO BY: Gwen Baluss
Varied thrush
6. Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge, Juneau, Alaska
"In spring, hundreds of thousands of shorebirds stop to feed in the southeast [of Alaska] on their way to their breeding grounds in the Arctic,” says Gwen Baluss, president of the Juneau Audubon Society.
The area's ancient forests and wetlands are habitat for more than 350 bird species, including the Queen Charlotte goshawk and the Prince of Wales spruce grouse, both of which are endemic subspecies found only here.
In spring, one of many easily accessible birding spots near Juneau for seeing Arctic terns, which have the longest migration of all birds, is Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge, a 4,000-acre wildlife refuge where rivers gush forth from melting ice. Baluss says the birds — built for extreme flight and round-trip annual migrations of more than 18,000 miles — are particularly beautiful in flight.
"It's also fun to see them gracefully plunge-diving for fish, courting, even fighting,” she says.
In summer, you might spot songbirds, including the bright-yellow Wilson's warbler and the cute little hermit thrush, which has speckled markings on its chest and throat. Summer brings a chorus of songbirds to the forested areas, too, including the Townsend's warbler and the varied thrush (both beautiful and easy to spot).
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