Every spring, a large number of migrating waterfowl settle on open fields beside College Road in Fairbanks, in Interior Alaska. The fields were cleared for a dairy farm, and the 1993 interim management plan for the refuge, published by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) , notes that dairy operations began attracting migrating birds around 1910. The fields contained leftover grain and had been spread with manure, allowing them to thaw quickly and provide the birds with shallow pools of water and food before the surrounding landscape thawed.
Get breaking news anytime, anywhere. Download the TOI app now!