Wildlife Update: September 20, 2022

Summer Visitor Center Hours

Weekdays from 9:00 am- 5:30 pm

Weekends 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

We are heading into the fall season here in the Grantsburg Area! Temperatures have remained hot over the past couple of weeks, but cooler weather looks like it is on its way in the next several days.  

Some flowages are a bit low on Crex Meadows, Fish Lake, and Amsterdam Sloughs, but we are hoping for more rain, so they come up a bit more for the rest of the fall hunting seasons. However, visitors may want to take advantage of the lower water levels for shorebird viewing while there are still some species hanging around! Try driving past Dikes 4 & 5 to look for yellowlegs, plovers, several different sandpipers, and more!

Shorebirds aren’t the only migrants moving through the area right now! We have also been seeing some of the last warblers, waterfowl, and some of the early Sandhill cranes are moving as well!

Sandhill crane migration won’t peak until mid to late October, but there are still plenty to be seen within the next few weeks before the peak!

Bird highlights: American Black Duck, American Golden-Plover, American Pipit, Baird’s Sandpiper, Black-bellied Plover, Gadwall, Lapland Longspur, and Merlin. 

Mammals seen in the area within the last week:

Beaver

Black Bear

Grey Fox

Grey Squirrel

Muskrat

Red Fox

Red Squirrel

River Otter

White-tailed Deer (with fawns)