Featured Photo by JT Palmer
Weather has been variable in the Grantsburg area, with some cooler days over the last week, but temperatures looking like they may be rising again over the next few days.
Now is the time of the year where we are seeing signs of fall around our wildlife areas, including some of our earliest fall migrants coming through. Keep a lookout for a variety of ducks, some remaining songbirds and shorebirds, geese, and also watch for some of our local birds to begin flocking up (blackbirds, ducks, Sandhill cranes, etc.). We will expect to see more of this behavior as we move into September.
Grettum Flowage and Phantom Lake have both been quite active recently, with Grettum still holding a large number of American White Pelicans and Trumpeter Swans.
Bird highlights for this past week include American Black Duck, American White Pelican (large numbers on Grettum Flowage in Fish Lake Wildlife Area!), Great Egret, Merlin, and Northern Pintail.
Bird sightings within the last week on Crex Meadows, Fish Lake, Amsterdam Sloughs, and surrounding area:
| American Bittern | Downy Woodpecker | Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| American Black Duck | Eastern Bluebird | Red-eyed Vireo |
| American Crow | Eastern Kingbird | Red-headed Woodpecker |
| American Goldfinch | Eastern Whip-poor-will | Red-tailed Hawk |
| American Kestrel | Eastern Wood-pewee | Red-winged Blackbird |
| American White Pelican | Great Blue Heron | Ring-necked Duck |
| Bald Eagle | Great Egret | Ring-necked Pheasant |
| Baltimore Oriole | Green Heron | Rock Pigeon |
| Barred Owl | Hairy Woodpecker | Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
| Belted Kingfisher | Least Flycatcher | Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
| Black-and-white Warbler | Mallard | Ruffed Grouse |
| Black-capped Chickadee | Merlin | Sandhill Crane |
| Blue Jay | Mourning Dove | Sharp-tailed Grouse |
| Blue-winged Teal | Nashville Warbler | Song Sparrow |
| Broad-winged Hawk | Northern Flicker | Sora |
| Canada Goose | Northern Harrier | Trumpeter Swan |
| Chipping Sparrow | Northern Pintail | Turkey Vulture |
| Common Grackle | Osprey | White-breasted Nuthatch |
| Common Loon | Pied-billed Grebe | Wild Turkey |
| Common Nighthawk | Pileated Woodpecker | Wood Duck |
| Common Raven | Purple Finch | |
| Double-crested Cormorant | Red-bellied Woodpecker |
Mammals seen in the area within the last week:
| Beaver | Grey Wolf | Red Squirrel |
| Black Bear | Muskrat | White-tailed Deer |
| Grey Squirrel | Raccoon |