Featured Image by Gary Meyer
Weather has been variable in the Grantsburg area, with some cooler days over the last week, but temperatures rising again over the past couple of days. The rain has finally stopped coming down as frequently, but there are definitely some storms and rainy days in the 10-day forecast.
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 shorebirds, some songbirds, and even 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 August moves along.
Shorebird migration in our area may not be quite as active as it can be this year, due to the large amount of precipitation we have received. We don’t have extensive mud flat areas like we have in the past, so look for shorebird migrants right along the edge of flowages where water is shallow.
Bird highlights for this past week include American White Pelican (large numbers on Grettum Flowage in Fish Lake Wildlife Area!), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gadwall, Great Egret, Green-winged Teal, Merlin, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Red-necked Grebe.
Bird sightings within the last week on Crex Meadows, Fish Lake, Amsterdam Sloughs, and surrounding area:
| American Bittern | Double-crested Cormorant | Olive-sided Flycatcher |
| American Crow | Downy Woodpecker | Osprey |
| American Goldfinch | Eastern Kingbird | Pied-billed Grebe |
| American Kestrel | Eastern Phoebe | Purple Finch |
| American White Pelican | Eastern Towhee | Purple Martin |
| Bald Eagle | Eastern Whip-poor-will | Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| Baltimore Oriole | Eastern Wood-pewee | Red-eyed Vireo |
| Barn Swallow | European Starling | Red-headed Woodpecker |
| Barred Owl | Field Sparrow | Red-necked Grebe |
| Belted Kingfisher | Gadwall | Red-winged Blackbird |
| Black Tern | Gray Catbird | Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
| Black-and-white Warbler | Great Blue Heron | Ruby-throated Hummigbird |
| Black-capped Chickadee | Great Egret | Ruffed Grouse |
| Blue Jay | Green Heron | Sandhill Crane |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | Green-winged Teal | Savannah Sparrow |
| Blue-headed Vireo | Hairy Woodpecker | Sedge Wren |
| Bobolink | Indigo Bunting | Sharp-tailed Grouse |
| Broad-winged Hawk | Killdeer | Song Sparrow |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | Least Flycatcher | Tree Swallow |
| Canada Goose | Lesser Yellowlegs | Trumpeter Swan |
| Cedar Waxwing | Mallard | Turkey Vulture |
| Chipping Sparrow | Marsh Wren | Vesper Sparrow |
| Cliff Swallow | Merlin | White-breasted Nuthatch |
| Common Loon | Mourning Dove | Wood Duck |
| Common Raven | Northern Cardinal | Yellow Warbler |
| Common Yellowthroat | Northern Flicker | Yellow-headed Blackbird |
| Cooper’s Hawk | Northern Harrier |
Mammals seen in the area within the last week:
| Beaver | Grey Wolf | White-tailed Deer |
| Black Bear | Muskrat | 13-lined Ground Squirrel |
| Cottontail Rabbit | Raccoon | |
| Grey Squirrel | Red Squirrel |