Arctic Terns

Arctic Terns are nesting near Mendenhall Glacier. The Forestry Service has an area sectioned off for protection, but we can watch them as the male birds hover over the water...

...searching for small fish to offer to the lucky female bird they happen to be courting. The female bird acts uninterested for a little while until she finally accepts the little fish and then flies away without saying thank-you. They come to Alaska from Antarctica traveling over 20,000 miles every year. They come here in the summertime when the days are very long and then travel back to Antarctica during our winter when Antarctica doesn't get dark. They are beautiful birds that look like a cross between a hummingbird & a butterfly when they are flying over the lakes & rivers.