Alaska’s Yukon Delta Wildlife Refuge by Eric Liner

Very few people are familiar with the YKD Wildlife Refuge in large part because it is so remote and difficult to access.  It is a vast rugged wilderness that supports an incredible diversity of wildlife and represents one of the world's most important breeding locations for migratory shorebirds and waterfowl.  This makes it makes it important on an international scale.  But despite its importance for migratory birds, its remoteness has allowed it to remain a hidden gem of the US Refuge system. I visited the YKD Wildlife refuge twice, once in the fall and again in the spring during the breeding season.  The weather is incredibly unpredictable and challenging in that part of the world.  Fog can set in for many days at a time and completely shut down production.  But despite the challenges it's one of the most beautiful and truly remote places I've ever had the chance to visit.  During the breeding season you can't walk more than 20 yards without encountering a nesting bird, and there are so many different species.  And in the middle of the night the whole place is alive with the wailing of loons, swans, cranes, shorebirds and songbirds, it's like an arctic jungle. I'm currently in production on a film about a very beautiful and rare bird in Southeast Asia.  It should be finished in fall of 2015.

Camilla Martina