Visit Us
The rolling green hills provide a glimpse of native prairie. Current management and future plans are to emphasize the untouched character of the landscape. Expect to see vast panoramas of mostly untouched grasslands much as great-grandpa might have seen.
There are interesting things to see on the Refuge each season, as you will see in our Calendar of Natural Events. During the spring and fall a wide variety of migrating shorebirds and passerines utilize the refuge as a stop on their trip. In the summer months breeding ducks and geese populate the lakes. Red-tailed hawks and Northern Harriers search the meadows for prey. You can also find white tail deer, mule deer, antelope, and a variety of resident birds including pheasants and grouse.
For more information on wildlife visit the bird and mammal lists.
Calendar of Natural Events
Spring
- willows are the first trees to “green up”
- Canada geese and sandhill cranes migrate through
- pelicans and other marsh and water birds arrive
- large numbers of Wilson's phalarope arrive
- warblers return
- grouse dance in mid-April
- giant Canada geese nest
- goslings appear in late April
- snakes and turtles become active
- bass spawn
- bluegills spawn
- chorus frogs call (sounds like a finger running across the teeth of a comb)
Summer
- spiderwort, yucca, prickly pear, and the endangered blowout penstemon bloom in June
- female cottonwood trees drop cotton (seeds)
- upland sandpipers seen on fence posts
- shorebirds seen on mudflats
- cormorants nest on Goose Lake
- eared grebes seen on floating nests on Smith and Deer Lakes
- grouse, pheasant, and waterfowl broods visible
- antelope bear their young (kids)
- fawns visible
- garter snakes bear live young
- toads call (sounds like bleating sheep)
- blue-winged teal arrive in August
- sunflowers bloom in late summer
Fall
- big bluestem (turkey foot) seeds out
- painted turtles bask on logs and muskrat huts
- bass fishing improves with cooler days
- horned larks and meadowlarks forage along roadsides
- dispersal of coyote pups
- antlered deer visible
- deer in rut
- peak waterfowl migration in November
Winter
- most visible species: pheasant, northern harrier, and large wintering deer herds
- golden eagles present
- deer drop antlers
- reptiles underground and dormant
- ice fishing on Island Lake, Crane Lake, and Smith Lake
