Wanted to alert folks to a good shorebird site in Big Stone County. After many years of stagnant water levels and carp infestation, we worked with Ducks Unlimited last fall to install a pump at Wiley Waterfowl Production Area. We are doing a temporary drawdown this spring, and the birds are loving it. Yesterday afternoon there were several hundred shorebirds and waterfowl feeding at the site. It was very windy so I wasn't able to ID much, but at a minimum the shorebirds included greater and lesser yellowlegs, pectoral sandpipers, dowitcher, willet, and some peeps.
Wiley WPA is located in sections 12 and 13 of Otrey Township, or 8 miles north and 3 miles east of Odessa. The basin is bisected by a road, so there are several locations for easy viewing. And if shorebirds aren't your thing, there are many other great prairie and marsh species around Big Stone County and the rest of Morris WMD! In the last two weeks we've been seeing goose broods, upland sandpipers, marsh wrens, marbled godwits, American bittern, sora, etc. Sara Vacek Wildlife Biologist U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Morris Wetland Management District 43875 230th St. Morris, MN 56267 320-589-4973 Find us on Facebook! ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
