Cordova's Natural World Audio Guide

Sand­hill Cranes migrate through the Cop­per Riv­er Delta with a brief stop-over and rest at Hart­ney Bay in the spring and fall. Any­where along the paved road at Hart­ney Bay from the bridge to the end of the paved road is a great place to see these mag­nif­i­cent birds.

Many species of birds migrate each year, but do we real­ly know why? Do they migrate because of food scarci­ty or for breed­ing pur­pos­es? Learn about some of the pos­si­bil­i­ties. Hart­ney Bay in ear­ly May is dom­i­nat­ed by large flocks of var­i­ous shore birds as they head north to breed in Alaska.

Every year, mil­lions of shore­birds migrate from South Amer­i­ca into Alas­ka where they stop to rest and feed on the Cop­per Riv­er Delta mud flats at Hart­ney Bay. Locat­ed about 5 miles south of Cor­do­va near the end of Whit­shed Road, the mud­flats are host to thou­sands of West­ern Sand­piper dur­ing high tide dur­ing the first sev­er­al days of May each year. Addi­tion­al­ly, the Cop­per Riv­er Delta near Ala­ganik Slough is an excel­lent loca­tion to find…  ...more

Trees that are stressed due to weath­er, dis­ease or insects are more like­ly to pro­duce large growths called burls, or galls. Some artists will take these burls and make beau­ti­ful dec­o­ra­tive bowls out of them. If you want to see some great exam­ples of burls, hike along the Heney Ridge Trail. Approx­i­mate­ly 2 miles from the trail head and a few hun­dred yards after cross­ing the large log bridge, you will find an area where sev­er­al spruce trees on…  ...more

Those frag­ile crusty gray lichens, favorite food of Cari­bou and often found grow­ing on rocks in the dry­er and high­er areas around Cor­do­va and the Cop­per Riv­er Delta, are fas­ci­nat­ing crea­tures, actu­al­ly sym­bi­ot­ic fun­gi-algae. The area around the top of the rocky out­crops at the end of the trail on Heney Ridge is an excel­lent loca­tion to study these inter­est­ing organisms.

Learn about a unique inver­te­brate organ­ism that lives in all oceans of the world includ­ing areas around Cor­do­va and the Cop­per Riv­er Delta, the Tuni­cate! An excel­lent place to look for tuni­cates, or ​“sea squirts” as they are com­mon­ly known, is on the edge of the docks just below water­line. The docks in the Cor­do­va boat har­bor have many species of these some­times col­or­ful but tiny organisms.

This pro­gram is part 1 of a 2 part pro­gram and looks at Eyak Lake, a prime salmon spawn­ing area locat­ed with­in the Cor­do­va city lim­its. Dur­ing the many years of Cordova’s his­to­ry, con­struc­tion and oth­er uses have affect­ed the drainage pat­terns and ero­sion of the lake affect­ing salmon spawn­ing habi­tat. Signs of lake ero­sion and habi­tat destruc­tion can be seen when dri­ving along Pow­er Creek Road and the Cop­per Riv­er High­way near Mavis Island.  ...more

Bats, though com­mon­ly thought of as elu­sive crea­tures, are reg­u­lar­ly seen around Cor­do­va in the sum­mer and fall and can be seen in the evening as they flit around catch­ing pesky mos­qui­toes and oth­er insects. The area around Skater’s Cab­in on Pow­er Creek Road and oth­er loca­tions along the road are good loca­tions to look for bats. And if you have a bat in your house, learn how to remove them with­out injury to the bat or the person.

A for­est isn’t just about the trees! The for­est floor is home to count­less tiny crit­ters, many of which have made unique adap­ta­tions to sur­vive in the for­est around Cor­do­va. Most any trail in and around Cor­do­va and the Cop­per Riv­er Delta will have an abun­dance of these tiny inhab­i­tants liv­ing in the for­est lit­ter and moss at your feet. The trail head start­ing at Skaters Cab­in on Lake Eyak will take hik­ers through dense for­est up to Crater Lake…  ...more

Bull kelp has made amaz­ing adap­ta­tions to sur­vive in the harsh Gulf of Alas­ka envi­ron­ment. It is one of the fastest grow­ing plants in the world, and can grow to 100 feet in length. It is found around deep­er water shore­lines and often washed up on beach­es after storms. The area close to Orca Can­nery is an excel­lent place to tide pool and look for sea­weeds, includ­ing bull kelp.

The Euro­pean Black Slug is a recent invad­er into Alas­ka and Cor­do­va. Find out how to deal with the black slimy pest and why it’s bad for native species and the res­i­dents in the area. They seem to be pro­lif­ic around hik­ing trails and on roads like Pow­er Creek Road.

While most peo­ple have prob­a­bly heard of brown and black bears, not every­one knows that in Alas­ka we also have white and blue bears! Black and brown bears can be found most any­where on the Cop­per Riv­er Delta with black bears pass­ing through Cor­do­va on a reg­u­lar basis. One of the best places to see black and brown bears is dur­ing the salmon spawn­ing sea­son on Pow­er Creek near the cul­verts under the road. Salmon spawn­ing along the road attracts…  ...more

Learn about the amaz­ing attrib­ut­es of the Bald Eagle and how they live. Eagles are found through­out most of South­cen­tral Alas­ka and are quite pro­lif­ic in and around Cor­do­va, espe­cial­ly the Cop­per Riv­er Delta. Bald Eagle nests can some­times be seen along the road while dri­ving to Childs Glac­i­er, 52 miles from Cor­do­va. They also con­gre­gate where spawn­ing salmon are found. The Pow­er Creek road area locat­ed just a few miles from Cor­do­va has…  ...more

In part 2, we will look at the pro­posed changes and restora­tion to var­i­ous loca­tions around Eyak Lake. The project includes replac­ing many inef­fi­cient cul­verts with fish friend­ly access cul­verts for spawn­ing salmon and a short bridge seg­ment near Mavis Island to improve sed­i­ment and tur­bid­i­ty for­ma­tion along the shore where salmon spawn. Signs of lake ero­sion and habi­tat destruc­tion can be seen when dri­ving along Pow­er Creek Road and the…  ...more

Sun­dews are amaz­ing car­niv­o­rous plants that live in poor soil con­di­tions and catch insects in an inge­nious way to sup­ple­ment their needs for nitro­gen and oth­er nutri­ents that the sur­round­ing soil lacks. Hik­ing in areas where the ground is wet and spongy or bog­gy, you will like­ly find the tiny car­niv­o­rous plants wait­ing for their next insect meal. Look for a small plant grow­ing close to the ground with bright red leaves the size of a pencil…  ...more

Fall time is beau­ti­ful any­where in Alas­ka, but the changes in the area around Cor­do­va and the Cop­per Riv­er Delta are tru­ly breath­tak­ing. Learn about the insect activ­i­ty that takes place in this sea­son with a detailed look at insect mim­ic­ry and a harm­less bee look-alike called the flower fly. These insects are usu­al­ly found in the autumn in areas with flow­er­ing plants includ­ing people’s gar­dens and yards and where ever flow­ers abound like…  ...more

Por­cu­pines, often mis­un­der­stood crea­tures, can be seen most any­where in the forests around Alas­ka includ­ing Cor­do­va and the Cop­per Riv­er Delta. In this seg­ment you will learn about the his­to­ry, habits and lifestyle of these inter­est­ing ani­mals. A good place to look for por­cu­pines is along the edge of side roads out on the Cop­per Riv­er High­way such as the Sheri­dan Glac­i­er Road.

There are many types of fun­gus and mush­rooms that can be found in the fall around Cor­do­va and the Cop­per Riv­er Delta, includ­ing one that actu­al­ly hunts it’s prey! Hik­ing in the fall along any trail around Cor­do­va or on the Cop­per Riv­er Delta will pro­duce many species of fun­gus and mush­rooms. Dri­ving to the end of Sheri­dan Road to the pic­nic area on the left side of the road is a great way to see many species.

The amaz­ing ice­worm can be found liv­ing on the sur­face of ice­bergs under very harsh con­di­tions. These worms live in such harsh envi­ron­ments that NASA is study­ing them to try to under­stand how life on oth­er worlds might adapt to seem­ing­ly unin­hab­it­able con­di­tions. The best place to find these tiny ani­mals is on the sur­face of ice and ice­bergs near Sheri­dan and Childs Glac­i­ers on the Cop­per Riv­er Delta. Bring your mag­ni­fy­ing glass!

Drag­on­flies, the offi­cial Alas­ka state insect, are often found around lakes and ponds hov­er­ing or perched on a long blade of grass at water’s edge. A great loca­tion to look for drag­on­flies is along the edge of the many ponds locat­ed along the Ala­ganik road on the way to the Ala­ganik Riv­er. Turn right at mile 17 on the Cop­per Riv­er High­way and trav­el for about 5 miles to the U.S. For­est Ser­vice board­walk, inter­pre­tive area and boat launching…  ...more

Every year, autumn brings us beau­ti­ful fall col­ors, but have you ever won­dered why the leaves turn yel­low and red? Learn why as you soak up the scenery on the way out to Childs Glac­i­er about 52 miles from Cor­do­va by grav­el road. Decid­u­ous trees like cot­ton­woods, alders and wil­lows will dis­play the bet­ter col­ors of fall.

Glac­i­ers aren’t just silent rivers of ice, slow­ly carv­ing their way through the land­scape. Glacial ice pro­duces a sound called ​“bergy seltzer,” and a great place to hear it (and see a giant glac­i­er) is Childs Glac­i­er, locat­ed about 52 miles from Cordova.

Ever won­der why mos­qui­toes choose the meals they do? Maybe they always seem to pre­fer you over your friend. Find out why, and learn how to avoid get­ting bit­ten. Hik­ing almost any­where in Alas­ka in the spring, sum­mer and fall can pro­vide swarms of bit­ing mos­qui­toes. Areas where there is less stand­ing water and loca­tions with a good breeze will deter them from biting.