For example, Old Squaw move to sheltered lagoons along the Beaufort Sea coast. There they feed in the protected waters and rest on the beaches of the islands that usually are free of mammalian predators, such as foxes. By mid-August most waterfowl are again able to fly. Some species, such as Canada Geese, Brant, and Snow Geese, congregate in coastal areas and graze on vegetation in saline and brackish meadows, laying on fat for energy to carry them south on the fall migration. In late August and early September, numerous flocks of waterfowl migrate along the coast or over the tundra.
Waterfowl leave northern Alaska by several routes.
Brant fly west along the Beaufort coast and then southward, ultimately ending up in Baja California. Snow Geese and Greater Whitefronted Geese fly eastward to the Mackenzie River Valley and then turn southward toward destinations in the southern United States and Mexico. By the time the tundra and Beaufort Sea freeze over and become snow covered, most of the birds have left northern Alaska and the tundra becomes quiet again until the next spring.