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This wetland area at the head of Turnagain Arm draws
nesting waterfowl, browsing moose and spawning salmon.
Trumpeter Swan
Cliff Swallow
NOTABLE
SPECIES
Pink Salmon
Black Bear
Moose
Trumpeter Swan
Cliff Swallow
Bald Eagle
Arctic Tern
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FIELD NOTES
The brushy,
water-saturated flats at the head of Turnagain Arm form a network
of channels and pools that draw dozens of bird species. Terns,
gulls and swans nest throughout the area.
 Geese
and ducks visit during fall and spring migrations. Most years,
trumpeter swans raise young in the pond on the southeast side of
the Seward Highway as it approaches Ingram Creek. A small colony
of cliff swallows builds gourd-shaped mud nests under the bridge
that spans the creek. Moose browse the flats, especially in
winter. Pink salmon spawn in the creek beginning in August. Watch
for bear tracks in the mud downstream from the bridge.
HABITAT
Multiple habitats
occur at the head of Turnagain Arm. Salt marsh rims the mud flats,
but quickly merges with alders and other brush at higher
elevations. Freshwater wetlands extend southeast of the highway.
Lower Ingram Creek is an intertidal spawning site for pink salmon.
The mountain slope immediately beyond the creek supports a patch
of temperate rainforest with hybrid Lutz spruce towering over a
dim, mossy understory.
GEOLOGICAL CONNECTION
In 1964, an enormous
earthquake (approximately 9.2 on the Richter Scale) rocked
southcentral Alaska. When it hit upper Turnagain Arm, the land
dropped more than four feet, radically changing some habitats.
Evidence of this shake-up can be seen in the many large dead trees
still standing on the flats near the highway. These trees were
killed when saltwater flooded their once dry roots.
VIEWING TIPS
Take a walk
along the creek after the tide has ebbed. In late summer you’ll
find swallows swooping from the bridge and pink salmon finning in
the riffles. The exposed mud will be printed with animal tracks.
HELPFUL HINTS
Bring rubber
boots to explore the creek.
GETTING THERE
Seward Highway near
milepost 75. Large pullouts for Ingram Creek are on both sides of
the highway on the north (Anchorage) side of the bridge.
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