Seasons of Wildlife
Featured Species
Large concentrations of waterfowl use the 1,240-acre Lake Ilo during both spring and fall migration. Waterfowl species that commonly nest here include Canada goose, mallard, northern pintail, blue-winged teal, northern shoveler, and gadwall. Other nesting water birds include eared grebes, pied-billed grebes, double-crested cormorants, great blue herons, black-crowned night-herons, and American bitterns. Shorebirds such as killdeer, plovers, sandpipers, willets, yellowlegs, marbled godwits, American avocets, and phalaropes are also plentiful. Songbirds such as the western meadowlark, bobolink, chestnut-collared longspur, and several native sparrows can be observed in the grasslands. Some of the resident mammals that make their year-round home here include white-tailed deer, mule deer, badgers, coyotes, and weasels.
- Songbirds
Tree swallows, sedge & marsh wrens, grasshopper sparrows, Le Conte's sparrows, song sparrows, savannah sparrows, bobolinks, and western meadowlarks. - Marshbirds
Pied-billed grebes, eared grebes, western grebes, American bitterns, great blue herons, black-crowned night-herons, soras. - Shorebirds
Wilson's phalaropes, greater yellowlegs, lesser yellowlegs, willet, spotted sandpiper, Wilson's snipe, killdeer, American avocets, upland sandpipers, marbled godwits, white-faced Ibis, common and black terns.
- Upland Birds
Ring-necked pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse, and gray partridge.
- Birds of Prey
Short-eared owls, northern harrier, Swainson's hawk, red-tailed hawk, and American kestrel.
