After dropping Birk off at the Minneapolis airport for his senior trip to Washington DC, I decide to take a detour on my way home to northern Minnesota. This is my favorite “long cut” to Wrenshall, and avoids a couple hours of freeway driving.
Crex Meadows is one of Wisconsin’s premiere State Wildlife Areas, and is most famous for being a major staging area for Sandhill Cranes in late fall.
It was too early for returning cranes since the marshy lakes were still frozen, but that doesn’t deter Trumpeter Swans! They return crazy early just to get the best nesting spots.
And that is what stopped me along a dirt road in the refuge. A pair of Trumpeters on a snowy point surrounded by slushy blue ice in perfect light. And as I was photographing them, an adult Bald Eagle flew right at me and landed a hundred feet away. That doesn’t happen every day!
The Eagle “caught” (really plucked) a couple dead winter-kill Bullheads from the slush. Interestingly, it seemed to prefer the skin of the fish, and stripped that first. That is one of the fattier and more nutrient-rich parts of any fish.
Other bird highlights included a small flock of Redpolls, American Tree Sparrow, Ring-necked Pheasant and Wild Turkeys.
A near-miss possible lowlight was almost getting stuck in the mucky, muddy roads THREE times! But I barely made it out.
A Serendipitous day of birding and bird photography!
What a beautiful mid May morning in the North Woods of Wisconsin! Ryan and Sparky take their FLOATING BLINDS out to a nearby marsh to see what they can find.
Ryan gets some COOL creative shots of a pair of Common Loons and Trumpeter Swans.
Sparky is one pond over in his leaky waders under the canopy of his floating blind searching for marsh birds. Instantly flooded with mucky marsh water, Sparky presses on. Surprisingly, he finds several species that are more common further south—MARSH WREN, VIRGINIA RAIL, YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, GREEN HERON.
An AMERICAN BITTERN is calling only 15 feet from Sparky…but he can’t find it…until he does find it! Always a red-letter day when one gets to see this skulky species.
Sparky also gets video and photos of Blue-winged Teal, Trumpeter Swans.
Ryan made these blinds based on the awesome design of MrJanGear floating hides. You can purchase these readymade at http://www.mrjangear.com.
You can see more of Ryan’s photos on Instagram at #ryan.marshik
After dropping my youngest son off at his aunt & uncles in Madison, WI in early June, I spend two partial days at Necedah NWR, one of my favorite National Wildlife Refuges. And it does not disappoint!
I capture the mechanism for Common Nighthawk booming in slow motion video. Crazy stuff!
A pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers entertain me with their bold antics. I share my early memories of this species at my grandparents farm in South Dakota (including the world’s best photo of this species that I took at age 14:)
I stumble across a couple species that I never see in the North Woods including a Willow Flycatcher (“FITZ-bew”) and a cooperative and beautiful Blue-winged Warbler.
And I can’t forget the rare butterfly that makes Necedah its home….the “Karner” Melissa Blue butterfly. I spend some quality time with this beauty amongst the native Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis).
An evening atop the Observation Tower is always peaceful, and this time I spot a pair of Whooping Cranes feeding on the far side.
Finally, I stop in to the very well done Nature Center. A great place in a great refuge!
Floating Blind Photography UNEXPECTED FINDS! Earth Day Floating Hide
Sparky and Ryan take their floating blinds out for some morning bird photography at Tobin-Kimmes Wetlands in Wisconsin. Curious Trumpeter Swans come very close and check out Sparky in his portable “muskrat house.” Great encounter with a close Hooded Merganser results in Sparky’s best photos of the female of this species ever! And finally, Sparky spends about 45 minutes with an unexpected guest as a Belted Kingfisher drops in on the marsh.
I head down to Crex Meadows Wildlife Area near Grantsburg, Wisconsin to search for my Lifer Olympia Marble butterfly. I also stumble upon one of the most beautiful turtles in North America…the Blanding’s Turtle (which promptly “mauls” me 🙂
Vesper and Grasshopper sparrows are singing, along with Eastern Towhees, Trumpeter Swans and Eastern Kingbirds.
It is hot, and the mosquitos are awful, but I find multiple species of butterflies to photograph including Hoary Elfin, Juvenal’s Duskywing, Silvery Blue, and, my main target, Olympia Marble…the butterfly that looks like its been brushed with gold foil!
On a whim, Sparky stops by Crex Meadows in western Wisconsin on his way home from a conference in St. Paul…and despite the initial BLAAH light and heavy overcast, he stays and the light suddenly turns magical…WHAAT!
Sandhill Cranes and Trumpeter Swans are the avian highlights.
Sparky tries shooting through the red fall foliage to create some unique and creative wildlife photos.
All photos taken with Canon R5 and Canon 100-500mm lens
Okay, okay…I must admit that I chose this “click bait” title for the Youtube upload of this video. Bad Sparky!
But will it work? Will I get more views compared to the original title…”EVENING AT NECEDAH: Whooping Cranes, Trumpeter Swans and more”? Probably, but I will never really know for sure since you cannot upload duplicate content to Youtube.
Regardless of all that nonsense, this was a MAGICAL two evenings at southern Wisconsin’s Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. I filmed 90 percent of this from the observation tower at the south end of the refuge. It was a dead calm and quiet evening.
A Whooping Crane was feeding along the marshy shoreline in the company of two Sandhill Cranes. Peaceful for a while, but then the MUCH LARGER Whooping Crane got too close to the intimidated Sandhills. Not really a “battle” per say, but the Sandhills definitely freaked out as the Whooper got close.
HISTORY—The world population of Whooping Cranes was down to 15 birds by 1941. Intense conservation efforts slowly allowed the population to build. The original group winters near Aransas NWR in south Texas and breeds in Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada (a permanent non-migratory group spends the year near Kissimmee, Florida).
But biologists felt that they had “too many eggs in one basket” and that a winter oil spill in the Gulf could wipe out the entire migratory population. They started searching for a new place to establish a migratory flock. Enter Necedah.
The Necedah flock was established in 2001 with a handful of cranes that were famously taught to migrate south to Florida by following a glider. The bold experiment worked and today there are 79 adults making the round trip migration from Florida to Wisconsin each year. By the way, Florida was chosen over Texas as another way to spread the risk of a natural disaster killing off ALL the Whoopers.
Whooping Cranes have NEVER been common in North America. Even before white Europeans arrived on the continent the population was estimated to be only 15,000 to 20,000 birds. And they only lay 1-3 eggs but usually two and often only one survives.
Black Flies have caused many nest failures and mortalities at Necedah. Nesting in late April and May is at the peak of Black Fly emergence so incubating females are so tormented by the tiny flies that they abandon the nest. So a new method called “forced re-nesting” has been implemented by biologists to counteract this. They remove the eggs from the first nest of the season, which forces the Whoopers to renest at a later date after the peak of Black Flies. Success rates and fledgings have increased using this method.
The world population is now up to 800 birds as of 2021.
I also got to see and film two other species that I rarely see in the North Woods…the most lovely Red-headed Woodpecker and the caterpillar-feasting Yellow-billed Cuckoo. A real treat!
[Shot with Panasonic GH5 and Canon 400mm f5.6 lens on tripod]
During the icy grip of the February 2021 Polar Vortex cold snap, Sparky travels to the mostly frozen Mississippi River of southeast Minnesota and southwest Wisconsin to photograph Bald Eagles fishing open spots close to shore. He also looks for Golden Eagles inland in Houston and Winona Counties in Minnesota.
Bitter windchills means frozen toes and fingers, but the Canon R5 does an amazing job of autofocus while shooting super slow motion (4K 120fps) video of the eagles.
A trip to Old Frontenac Cemetery nets Sparky’s first photos and videos of Tufted Titmouse in Minnesota.
The trip ends at Crex Meadows near Grantsburg Wisconsin where an unexpected Gray Fox and Red Fox make a dusk appearance.
I had a great day birding at Wisconsin’s Crex Meadows State Wildlife Area. It is near Grantsburg, Wisconsin and only an hour and 15 minute drive from our home in Carlton County, Minnesota.
Highlights include an Eastern Kingbird landing on the back of a Bald Eagle (!), singing Field Sparrow, Clay-colored Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, Black Tern, Trumpeter Swans with cygnets, foraging Sandhill Crane, and a sighting of the rare Blanding’s Turtle. (and loads of deer flies!)
Wildflowers including 4 species of milkweed! (including the rare Dwarf Milkweed (Asclepias ovalifolia), which was a lifer) and Butterfly Milkweed), also Spiderwort, Wood Lily, Prairie Larkspur and more.
Gravel/sand area at Sauk Prairie Recreation Area, Wisconsin
These sand-loving “tigers” are of the beetle variety. Tiger beetles are voracious predators of other insects. They have great vision and massive jaws. They ambush and pursue their victims on foot…and they are very fast.
And they are a colorful lot as well. My publishing company recently put out a field guide to all 21 species of tiger beetles in Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is my goal to photograph all 21….and the Ghost Tiger Beetle would be number 14.
On this mid July trip to Madison, Wisconsin to bring my kids to “Nana Camp,” I decided to stop at the Sauk Prairie Recreation Area on the advise of Wisconsin tiger beetle guru Mike Reese (Mike is also the photographer for our Tiger Beetles of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan guide).
My goal was to see and photograph this beautiful creature…the aptly-named Ghost Tiger Beetle (Ellipsoptera lepida).
I knew that they seem to prefer fine-grained sand, so I searched an area at the base of the gravel flats where the finer sand had washed out from rain and erosion…and I got lucky! After about 45 minutes of searching, I saw movement on the fine sand. But as soon as the tiger beetle quit running it seemed to disappear into the background. Their pale elytra (wing coverings) are the perfect camouflage for their light-colored sandy habitats.
This guy went down into this burrow several times. I caught him dropping down in this shot.
You can see the lighter-colored sorted fine sand where the Ghost Tiger Beetles occurred.
Rain has washed and sorted the finer-grained sand to the base of the gravel flats. This is where the Ghost Tiger Beetles were found.
Can you spot the “Ghost”? They are aptly-named species. You can spot them when the run, but as soon as they stop and remain motionless, they disappear. Ghost indeed!
A colorful (and variable) tiger beetle is the wonderfully named Festive Tiger Beetle. It can be mostly green (as above) or mostly red (as in photo below).
Here is a red and green Festive Tiger Beetle (Cicindela scutellaris subspecies Lecontei). One of our most beautiful species.
Velvet Ant [Sauk Prairie Recreation Area, Wisconsin]
Tiger beetles aren’t the only sand-lovers found here. I saw a couple Velvet Ants (family Mutillidae), a group of insects that parasitize ground-dwelling wasps and bees that are found in sparsely-vegetated sandy areas.
March 27, 2026
Sparky Stensaas
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