Spring Visitor Center Hours
Weekdays: 8:00 am- 4:30 pm; Weekends: 10:00 am-4:00 pm.
We are finally having consistent spring weather in the Grantsburg area, including many days of rain. This isn’t necessarily the best weather for wildlife viewing, but we have been in desperate need of precipitation after more than 2 years of drought conditions! Water levels in the flowages are finally coming up, and it seems that they will continue to rise being that there is more rain in the forecast.
More migrating birds have been showing up each day the past week, including many waterfowl species, grebes, various shorebirds, sparrows, herons and heron-like birds, and even some songbirds. Migration activity should be fantastic from now until at least the end of this month, so it is a fantastic time to plan a trip.
One major highlight from this past couple of weeks is that we already have several goose pairs that have hatched goslings! Families have been seen on Phantom Lake, North Fork Flowage, and other areas as well.
Bird highlights from this past week include: American Bittern, American White Pelican, Bonaparte’s Gull, Cackling Goose, Eared Grebe, Eastern meadowlark, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Great Egret, Greater white-fronted goose, Horned Grebe, Lark Sparrow, Orange-crowned warbler, Peregrine Falcon, Pine Warbler, Red-necked Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Short-eared Owl, Willet, and Yellow-headed Blackbird.
Recent bird sightings in Burnett County (focused on areas around Crex Meadows, Fish Lake, and Amsterdam Sloughs Wildlife Areas):
| American Bittern | European Starling | Pine Warbler |
| American Coot | Field Sparrow | Purple Finch |
| American Crow | Fox Sparrow | Purple Martin |
| American Goldfinch | Gadwall | Red-bellied Woodpecker |
| American Kestrel | Golden-crowned Kinglet | Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| American Robin | Gray Catbird | Redhead |
| American Tree Sparrow | Great Blue Heron | Red-necked Grebe |
| American White Pelican | Great Egret | Red-tailed Hawk |
| American Wigeon | Great Horned Owl | Red-winged Blackbird |
| American Woodcock | Greater Scaup | Ring-billed Gull |
| Bald Eagle | Greater White-fronted Goose | Ring-necked Duck |
| Barn Swallow | Greater Yellowlegs | Ring-necked Pheasant |
| Barred Owl | Green-winged Teal | Rock Pigeon |
| Belted Kingfisher | Hairy Woodpecker | Rough-legged Hawk |
| Black-capped Chickadee | Hermit Thrush | Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| Blue Jay | Hooded Merganser | Ruddy Duck |
| Blue-winged Teal | Horned Grebe | Ruffed Grouse |
| Bonaparte’s Gull | Horned Lark | Rusty Blackbird |
| Brewer’s Blackbird | House Finch | Sandhill Crane |
| Broad-winged Hawk | House Sparrow | Sedge Wren |
| Brown Thrasher | Killdeer | Sharp-tailed Grouse |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | Lark Sparrow | Short-eared Owl |
| Bufflehead | Lesser Scaup | Snow Goose |
| Cackling Goose | Lesser Yellowlegs | Song Sparrow |
| Canada Goose | Mallard | Sora |
| Chipping Sparrow | Marsh Wren | Swamp Sparrow |
| Common Grackle | Merlin | Tree Swallow |
| Common Loon | Mourning Dove | Trumpeter Swan |
| Common Merganser | Northern Flicker | Tundra Swan |
| Common Raven | Northern Harrier | Turkey Vulture |
| Cooper’s Hawk | Northern Pintail | Vesper Sparrow |
| Dark-eyed Junco | Northern Rough-winged Swallow | White-breasted Nuthatch |
| Double-crested Cormorant | Northern Shoveler | White-throated Sparrow |
| Downy Woodpecker | Orange-crowed Warbler | Wild Turkey |
| Eared Grebe | Osprey | Willet |
| Eastern Bluebird | Palm Warbler | Wilson’s Snipe |
| Eastern Meadowlark | Peregrine Falcon | Wood Duck |
| Eastern Phoebe | Pied-billed Grebe | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
| Eastern Towhee | Pileated Woodpecker | Yellow-headed Blackbird |
| Eastern Whip-poor-will | Pine Siskin | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Recent mammal sightings in Burnett County (focused on areas around Crex Meadows, Fish Lake, and Amsterdam Sloughs Wildlife Areas):
| Black Bear | Muskrat | River Otter |
| Coyote | Porcupine | Striped Skunk |
| Grey Squirrel | Red Fox | White-tailed Deer |
| Grey Wolf | Red Squirrel | 13 Lined Ground Squirrel |