U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service logo National Wildlife Refuge System Logo Celebrating a Century of Conservation
Banner graphic displaying the Fish & Wildlife Service logo, the National Wildlife Refuge System logo and the Celebrating a Century of Conservation tagline
Hamden Slough
National Wildlife Refuge		 male ruddy duck on the water
26624 North Tower Road
Detroit Lakes, MN   56501
E-mail: hamdenslough@fws.gov
Phone Number: 218-847-4431
Visit the Refuge's Web Site:
http://www.fws.gov/refuge/hamden_slough/		 Many species of waterfowl, including ruddy ducks, rely on the shallow water and prairie habitat that has been restored on the refuge.
Blue horizontal line
  Wildlife and Habitat
Continued . . .

A "hot spot" for bird watchers, uncommon species like Le Conte's sparrow, common moorhen, American avocet, marsh wren, sedge wren, and red-necked grebe are nesting on the refuge and are routinely seen.

In just the last three years, 13 previously unrecorded bird species have been confirmed as nesting on Hamden Slough refuge. These include: Virginia rail, dickcissel, semi-palmated sandpiper, American bittern, prairie chickens, Wilson's phalarope, and gadwall.

The refuge impoundments are managed in May and June for migrating and nesting shorebirds and waterfowl. This has resulted in an increased abundance of previously rare species such as godwits, dowitchers, dunlins, and many other "life list" species.

The numbers of public visitors surge in May and June, with many wildlife viewers checking Bisson Lake and the "frog pond," on the north end of the refuge, and the office wetland complex on the south end. Neotropical nesters and migrants are also most easily observed from mid-May through mid-June. The abundance of refuge wildlife attracts avian predators, including bald eagles, harriers, falcons, hawks, kestrels, and merlins.

 
 
- Back -