Tundra Swans are once again flowing south along the Mississippi River and can be seen by the hundreds from the Trempealeau Refuge area to south of Goose Island County Park (La Crosse, Wisconsin, Brownsville, Minnesota, to Stoddard, Wisconsin.) Be certain to keep your eyes open for ducks, pelicans, and occasionally, a pair of Trumpeter Swans.
Find much more detail about the Fall Migration and peak dates by typing “Tundra Swans” or “Trumpeter Swans” or “Pelicans” in the Search Box to the upper right of this Web Page!! You might also do a search of our EAGLE articles! We have been making notes about the spring and fall migration for nearly 20 years!
The Swans and Pelicans will be around until the bays and the main channel ice over. Then American Bald Eagles will begin gathering in quantities around any open water just below the Dams. It is a great time to meander along the river, view eagle nests, eagles, and our lovely little towns along the river. Bring your Binocs!
Hi Friends and neighbors, very shortly we will be putting our property 1.25 miles east of Stoddard up for sale. This is a heads up, in case you have a friend or relative looking for a beautiful south-facing property in Wisconsin’s Driftless region just 12 miles south along the Mississippi from downtown La Crosse.
The house overlooks a beautiful and varied 54-acre domain of woods, meadow, pristine spring-fed marsh, robust artesian well and hillsides. Fish the property’s 1 mile of frontage along Coon Creek…one of Wisconsin’s most lauded trout streams. The bottoms provide beautiful and silent cross country skiing.
South facing decks on two levels of the bungalow style home and an insulated 3 season room provide beautiful vistas of bluff and valley to south, east and west year around.
The historic 1912 barn stands straight and tall, has a dry hay loft, 2 horse stalls. Great as a walk-in barn for horses or storage for toys and tools. Artesian well just below the house and barn. Historic buggy shed offers a dry home for horse tack, or any other collection that is dear to your heart. Excellent pasture or hay in the meadows, or firewood from the woodlot. Wild grapes and a 35 yr old apple tree as well as perennials make even the yard productive.
Neighbors practice quality deer management so plan your hunt for the big buck! Or watch the hunt from the sun porch or decks! The wetland meadows provide a natural refuge with nesting sandhill cranes, playful otters, muskrats, resident eagle, and fawns are raised annually on the homestead hillsides. Watch Turkeys strut as well as pheasants, trumpeter swans and Virginia Rail which populate your piece of the Mississippi River valley. Listen as Tundra swans fly low to land between Stoddard and Goose Island.
Visit this link on Lisa’s Facebook page for many more pix!
3 bedrooms, 2 bath home of approx 2500 sq ft. 2 car garage. High topped boat/RV storage off the barn. Hardwood floors throughout the main floor. Finished walk-out basement with family space, laundry, a huge office space. New heat pump, furnace and kitchen appliances. All systems work as they should. Fireplace in living room. Wood stove in basement. Both with stainless steel chimneys. Large open kitchen. New roof on house and barn.
Upstairs is finished with bedroom suite, 1/2 bath, walk in closet. Large attic space is unfinished.
Owner may accept, counter offer, or refuse any offer. Sold as is. Look for more pictures on Zillow (address W987 Cedar Valley Road, Stoddard, WI 54658) or the public Farm for sale album on Lisa Middleton’s facebook page noted above.
Call Rich 309-200-7473 or text Pat at 608-385-2510 for more info (including a map) or to visit the property. Suggested pricing $675,000-$720,000.
Nearly the entire sideyard is shaded by the great oak.
What a difference a month makes! Temps are settling in the 40s one week, 70s next, and then back to 40s! Snow accumulates, then melts, then falls again. Our great Mississippi rises, then falls, then floods! Just now, the crest is slipping from La Crosse into Iowa, but hover close to moderate flood levels everywhere.
Many parks are still closed, but birds are still moving along the Mississippi River flyway. They are, however, moving in fits and starts along with inclimate weather and high water. Their one necessity is the availability of food along the route. With another round of nice weather approaching Wisconsin and Minnesota, birds should be back on the move!
Our Sandhill nest is full of activity as the eggs hatched on April 29 – about a week early. Eagles are busy with their own fledglings, so check out nests for the white heads of adults busy with bringing food to the nests. Egrets and Great Blue Herons have arrived and are visible in ponds and sloughs not directly on the flooded Mississippi River. White pelicans also are checking out the smaller wetland ponds along the flooded river. We see them frequently.
Riverboats, including the Twilight, the newly restored Julia Belle Swaine, and the La Crosse Queen are all eager to start their seasons “come hell or high water!”
I will be posting several links just to remind you of what you can find on our Mississippi River at this time of year, and also on greatriver.com While I no longer post daily, our archives are filled with seasonal information!! Use the Search Button above or search through our CATEGORIES! And Happy Spring!
Between thunderstorms, Winter Snow Warnings, and now Sunshine! I’ve been wondering what the response of our (mostly) migratory waterfowl would be over the course of the last day or two. Viewing has been great from Goose Island south to the Bay immediately north of Stoddard, along Hwy 35. Big white swans on their own in pairs are most likely Trumpeter Swans, while the migratory Tundra Swans will be visible in large numbers. If you see a thick cluster of large white birds, check closely for the large bill, heavy body and short neck of the pelicans.
All the waterfowl have been passing through for 2-3 weeks, as well as the mass of migratory ducks. Bring your bird guide to ferret out the many species of Dabbling (shallow water) ducks and Diving ducks (bigger, deeper areas) you are bound to see. Bald Eagles are abundant and Sandhill Cranes are pretty much settled into their nesting territories now and are busy calling to one another.It’s a wonderful time of new life on the river!
I’m constantly amazed at the swan stories I’ve seen reported this winter as Trumpeter Swan populations increase on the upper Mississippi River. This particular story is a sad one. If you find a dead Swan, please make a phone call to your local DNR.
More than a dozen swans have died at Twin Cities lake
Lead poisoning is the suspected cause of death. FEB 4, 20
Trumpeter swans continue to die of suspected lead poisoning at a lake in the Twin Cities metro area.
Last year, 11 of the majestic swans were found dead at Vadnais Lake in Vadnais Heights. This winter, two additional trumpeter swans have been located deceased at the lake, including one on the lake’s north end/east side, and another at Sucker Channel.
Sucker Channel is where the 11 birds were found dead last year. Four of those 11 were tested, with results positive for lead poisoning. The trumpeter swan found at Sucker Channel this week has been sent to the University of Minnesota Diagnostic Lab for necropsy and testing.
“Swans use their long necks to reach the bottom and pick up stones to grind food in their gizzard. Lead sinkers are just the right size for the job, so swans pick them up preferentially. Sinkers get ground up in their gizzard and incorporated into body tissue. These carcasses pose a risk to scavengers and pets that might feed on them.”
The group is urging the public to keep an eye out for more dead swans and for anglers to avoid using lead fishing tackle, instead opting for tin, tungsten, steel, glass and other non-lead alternatives.
The dead swan on the north end of the lake cannot be safely retrieved, so it will stay there for the time being. Anyone who finds a dead swan is asked to report it by calling 651-204-6070.
What a difference two weeks can make! River is frozen. Swans long gone. Ice Fishermen abound. Eagles will be searching out open areas in the ice field. And while you may see local fishermen out on the ice… BEWARE. River ice cannot be trusted, even from day to day. River currents EAT ice.
A fisherman friend relayed that he used a special truck for ice fishing… the top had been removed so that if he fell through the ice, he could immediately push off and head for the hole.
Well, it happened that he DID fall through, and he immediately swam to the surface break. Current is obviously a great enemy, but hypothermia strikes in minutes.
He found himself sitting on the edge of the fragile ice edge, kicking his feet in the water. He had to logically think, “this is not normal. I SHOULD be freezing to death.”
So he pulled his body up and ran for the highway where he had his “road truck” parked. He made it to the truck, started out onto Hwy 35. He did reach the highway… and stopped right in the path of traffic.
Another driver stopped behind him, realized something must be wrong, and found Harold hypothermic behind the wheel of his truck.
As we drove Minnesota’s Great River Road from Red Wing to La Crescent this weekend… “indicator species” at various waysides highlighted the arrival of Tundra Swans!
Such clusters of humans with binoculars and cameras announce the “swan song” of 2011. Best viewing of Tundra Swans seemed to be right along HWY 61 just north of Minnieska, Minnesota (Weaver Bottoms) and again just south of Goose Island in Wisconsin. No doubt the Swans are also clustered just outside of Brownsville, Minnesota, and perhaps just north of Alma, Wisconsin at Reich’s Lake.
A word of warning though… I saw two men standing on the railroad tracks engrossed in watching an American Bald Eagle soaring up above.
Not smart.
There is a very real possibility that when engrossed in viewing wildlife, one would never hear the train coming until it is simply too late. Stand well off the railroad tracks!!
The seed islands north of Stoddard have been crowded this week with pelicans gathering for the trip south. With November just around the corner, and our first frosts already in the air, it’s time to start watching for Tundra Swans! I heard from Al Stankevitz that he has seen a very few towards the center of the pool at Brownsville, Mn. So be on the lookout for the long white necks of the Tundra Swans. In a few more weeks we should have many thousands!!
Just a reminder, too, that we have an extensive BIRDING section in the Mississippi River Home Page!
Please use the REPLY link to update our fellow birders on your observerations! This will be a spam-free way to keep one another posted on birding along the Mississippi River!!
We’re close to hitting 50 degrees in the Upper Mississippi River Valley. Sandhill cranes, Canada Geese, starlings have all returned. The Mourning Dove is cooing again and the morning is beginning to be vibrant with bird chatter. We’ve heard from the St. Louis area that pelicans are back on their way north. I don’t know that ANYONE appreciates spring like someone who lives up here!
We’re close to hitting 50 degrees in the Upper Mississippi River Valley. Sandhill cranes, Canada Geese, starlings have all returned. The Mourning Dove is cooing again and the morning is beginning to be vibrant with bird chatter. We’ve heard from the St. Louis area that pelicans are back on their way north. I don’t know that ANYONE appreciates spring like someone who lives up here!