Even though columnist John Schandelmeier loves winter and all its trappings, the call of an Alaska spring is getting louder.
Snow buntings eat from branches on a berm near the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail in downtown Anchorage on Thursday, March 25, 2021.
A couple weeks ago, the first of the McKay’s buntings, which look very similar to our Interior buntings, began to be visible on the mainland near Unalakleet and Shaktoolik. These birds winter along the western Alaskan coast and on Bering Sea islands. They are hard to spot most times, but are always there to poke around in the straw when the Iditarod mushers pass through Unalakleet.
Another sure sign of spring, in recent years, is the mass arrival of Chinese tourists. Discounting the COVID years, Chinese college students show up en masse to the Interior on their spring break. The Castner Ice Cave is being overrun this spring with a 100 or more students making a daily trek to the once-deserted cave. Most of these tourists will fly back south in the next week or so — unlike the birds which will stay all summer.
More caution than usual is in order this spring season when getting out in the snow. Deep snow on area lakes will camouflage open springs that open up along the shorelines. These are the perfect trap for the unwary. Avalanche danger in the mountains will be extreme because of the heavy snowpack. One will need to be careful.
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