*The Visitor Center is open weekends until early November.  Weekend hours are 10am-4pm.  Weekday hours are 8am-4:30pm.  We now have high definition videos to replace the DVD programs we had been showing.  Take time to view one or both of the videos.  They are a major improvement over the DVD’s.  We also added a few small items to the exhibits during the winter.  The Bog Shoe Shop is well stocked with a large variety of wildlife-related items.  For the next two Saturdays (5/3, 5/10) we are offering guided bird tours from 8-10 am.  Meet at the Visitor Center. 

*The south end of Phantom Lake has a good variety of birds.  Here you may see pelicans, cormorants, loons, red-necked grebes, and possibly, yellow-headed blackbirds and marsh wrens.  Horned grebes are also still present at this location.

*A white-faced ibis was reported on the north end of Phantom Lake on Friday May 9 and a cattle egret was seen on May 11 at Grettum Flowage on the Fish Lake WA.

*There are lots of warblers (mostly yellow-rumped, but also palm, Tennessee, yellowthroats, yellow, etc.), thrushes, and sparrows moving through.  Most of the other migrants ate back.  This week we heard upland sandpipers, Virginia and sora rails, yellow-headed blackbirds and many others.

*Trumpeter swans are present on almost any of the larger flowages.  Most of them are nesting.  You can see nests on Phantom Lake, the south end of the refuge, Upper North Fork, and most of the other large flowages.

*Osprey are using the nesting platforms on Hay Creek, Buggert’s Lake, and Monson.

*Eagles are nesting on the osprey platform on the south end of the refuge and near the center of Upper North Fork

*We noticed more shorebirds this week.  Most of them are yellowlegs but there are other species mixed in.   The flooded sedge marsh east of the pumphouse on Main Dike Rd. is a god spot for shorebirds.  Early this week there were Wilson’s phalaropes and godwits present.  Another good spot for shorebirds is Grettum Flowage which is being drawn down and  beginning to show a few mudflats.

*Look for peregrine falcons wherever there is a concentration of shorebirds.  At least one falcon was seen this week.

*Most of the geese have hatched.  Goslings are now a common sight along the dike raods. 

*There are good numbers of sandhill cranes in the area.  You should be able to find them in any of the larger sedge marshes. 

*Bears have emerged from their dens.  Look for them in the aspen trees where they like to feed on the new aspen buds.  This is also a good time of year to see badgers (look for active dens along the roads).

*Sharp-tailed grouse are still performing their annual mating ritual.  On sunny, calm spring mornings, you may hear/see them almost anywhere on the north half of the property.  They sometimes display in the NW fields below Reigel Overlook.

*The Crex wolf pack has been very active this winter.  You can find fresh tracks throughout the property.

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