Featured Image by Heather Shaw
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. Water levels are extremely low in the area due to the drought. We are hoping that the rain in the forecast for the weekend does indeed fall!
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 (this flowage was drawn down intentionally) that are great for viewing shorebirds and other wading birds.
Grettum Flowage on Fish Lake Wildlife Area is drawn down still (which was also intentional), so many of the birds that normally hang out in that flowage have gone over to Dueholm Flowage (Trumpeter Swans, pelicans, etc.)
Highlights this week include: Baird’s Sandpiper, Common Nighthawk, Merlin, Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Solitary Sandpiper, and Stilt Sandpiper.
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 Redstart
American Robin
American White Pelican
Baird’s Sandpiper
Bald Eagle
Baltimore Oriole
Barn Swallow
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Black Tern
Black-billed Cuckoo
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Blue-winged Teal
Bobolink
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Cliff Swallow
Common Grackle
Common Loon
Common Nighthawk
Common Raven
Common Yellowthroat
Cooper’s Hawk
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Warbling Vireo
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Eastern Wood-pewee
European Starling
Field Sparrow
Gray Catbird
Great Blue Heron
Great Crested Flycatcher
Great Egret
Great Horned Owl
Greater Yellowlegs
Green Heron
Green-winged Teal
Hairy Woodpecker
House Finch
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Least Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mallard
Marsh Wren
Merlin
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Harrier
Northern Yellow Warbler
Osprey
Ovenbird
Pectoral Sandpiper
Pied-billed Grebe
Pileated Woodpecker
Purple Finch
Purple Martin
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-necked Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Rock Pigeon
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruffed Grouse
Sandhill Crane
Scarlet Tanager
Sedge Wren
Semipalmated Plover
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Short-billed Dowitcher
Solitary Sandpiper
Song Sparrow
Spotted Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Svannah Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Trumpeter Swan
Turkey Vulture
Vesper Sparrow
Virginia Rail
White-breasted Nuthatch
Wild Turkey
Wood Duck
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Mammals seen in the area within the last week:
Beaver
Black Bear
Grey Squirrel
Muskrat
Red Fox
Red Squirrel
Striped Skunk
White-tailed Deer
13-lined Ground Squirrel
Sightings of Flowers in Bloom: