Featured Image by Nancy Jahnel
Weather has been mostly hot in the Grantsburg area, but there have been a few cooler days mixed in. The 10-day forecast looks like many days will be in the high 80’s and some may dip into the high 70’s.
The highlights for viewing this time of the year are summer resident birds, wildflowers in bloom, and our many butterfly species! We are seeing some of the earliest signs of migration, including some shorebirds coming to the area. There are mudflats on North Fork Flowage that are great for viewing shorebirds and other wading birds, such as egrets and herons. Baby animals are going fast, with many of the birds being close to the size of their parents at this point and becoming much more independent.
Grettum Flowage on Fish Lake Wildlife Area is drawn down still, and because of this there are a number of birds that have moved over to Dueholm Flowage, including American White Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, many Trumpeter Swans, a number of different ducks, and more.
Highlights this week include: Great Egret, Least Bittern, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, and Wilson’s Phalarope.
Bird sightings within the last week at Crex Meadows, Fish Lake, Amsterdam Sloughs, and surrounding area:
American Bittern
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Kestrel
American Robin
American White Pelican
Bald Eagles
Baltimore Oriole
Barn Swallow
Barred Owls
Belted Kingfisher
Black Terns
Black-billed Cuckoo
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Blue-winged Teal
Bobolinks
Brown Thrasher
Brown-headed Cowbird
Canada Goose
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Cliff Swallow
Common Grackle
Common Loon
Common Nighthawk
Common Raven
Common Yellowthroat
Cooper’s Hawk
Dickcissel
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Warbling Vireo
Eastern Whip-poor-wills
Eastern Wood-pewee
Field Sparrow
Golden-winged Warbler
Grasshopper Sparrow
Gray Catbird
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Greater Yellowlegs
Green Heron
Hairy Woodpecker
Hermit Thrush
Hooded Merganser
House Finch
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Least Bittern
Least Flycatcher
Least Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mallard
Marsh Wren
Mourning Dove
Northern Flicker
Northern Harrier
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Northern Yellow Warbler
Osprey
Ovenbird
Pectoral Sandpiper
Pied-billed Grebe
Pileated Woodpecker
Purple Finch
Purple Martin
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-necked Grebe
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbirds
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-necked Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruffed Grouse
Sandhill Crane
Savannah Sparrow
Scarlet Tanager
Sedge Wren
Semipalmated Plover
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Solitary Sandpiper
Song Sparrow
Sora
Spotted Sandpiper
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallows
Trumpeter Swan
Turkey Vulture
Veery
Vesper Sparrow
White-breasted Nuthatch
Wild Turkey
Wilson’s Phalarope
Wilson’s Snipe
Wood Duck
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Vireo
Sightings of Flowers in Bloom:
Black-eyed Susan
Blue Giant Hyssop
Blue Vervain
Butterfly Milkweed
Common Mullein
Daisy Fleabane
Fireweed
Harebell
Hedgenettle
Hoary Vervain
Joe-pye-weed
Leadplant
Pickerelweed
Prairie Blazing Star
Prairie Onion
Purple Prairie Clover
Queen Anne’s Lace
Rough Blazing Star
Showy Goldenrod
Spiderwort
Stiff Sunflower
Sulphur Cinquefoil
Swamp Milkweed
Water Smartweed
White Water Lily
Wild Bergamot
Wild Mint
Yellow Pond Lily
Mammals seen in the area within the last week: