Bird Watching at the La Crosse Marsh

Anyone who has followed this blog for a while knows that I am a HUGE bird lover.  Because I live near the Mississippi River we attract so many water birds that most Americans would pay to see.  I frequently see Bald Eagles fly above my yard, or when I'm driving.  And less than three miles from my house I can see white tundra swans, cranes, ducks, geese, etc. all enjoying Tamarack Creek.  But what I really love are all the preservations I get to enjoy.  I've already blogged about the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge, and today I'm going to share about the La Crosse Marsh.

Believe it or not, this bird paradise is located in downtown La Crosse Wisconsin.  I couldn't believe such an oasis could exist in a mid size city, but it does!  College students and residents love to enjoy this outdoor oasis.  The La Crosse Marsh is located at the confluence of the La Crosse and Mississippi Rivers.  It is thousand acres of wetlands located in the heart of the city.  It provides critical flood protection, clean water, wildlife habitat, and recreation!  The marsh has a great trail system for both hikers and bicyclists!

I wish we had the time to hike all the trails, because I'm sure we would have seen more varieties of birds, but it was a pit-stop on the way to Galena, Illinis so we could only hike a small portion of the trail.  

The coolest aspect of this marsh, is that the trails take you right on the water, so you get as close to wildlife as possible.  The photo below shows the start of one of the trails, and if you look at the map on the next picture, you will see all the trails on the water!

The marsh divides the city into two.  We started near the university area (marked UWL on the mark) at the "You are Here" point.  We took the "Cottonwood Trail" (highlighted in red) out till we reached the "Grand Crossing" (the black line down the center), and then returned back to the parking lot.  Oh, how I wish we had time to hike the whole system, but it quite large, so it might be something we have to bike ride.

Some of the trail is paved, and other parts are gravel. 

It didn't take long before I spotted my first wild fowl:  a pair of geese.  I love the view of the La Crosse bluffs which are part of the "Driftless Region" my neck of the woods is known for.

Sorry I don't have better photos.  I just used the camera on my IPhone.

There are railway tracks on the other side of the marsh.  It was fun to see a train go by while we there.

I found it interesting that anytime there was a piece of drift wood in the water, there were birds resting on it.

I spotted my first crane at the viewing deck. 

They have two viewing decks on the Cottonwood Trail to stop and enjoy the views.

There was a lot of floating green stuff in the water.  The administration of The Friends of the La Crosse Marsh says "it's mostly comprised of duckweeds, Lemna, and Spirodela....these floating plants are naturally found in wetlands.  However, excessive nutrients may stimulate their abundance."

I couldn't believe we even spotted a deer at the La Crosse Marsh!  We can't escape these guys anywhere in Wisconsin. 😀

It was a rare chilly October morning when we here so I wore my new Stitch Fix jeans, comfy booties, and a plaid shacket.  It was super windy that day so I couldn't wear a hat like I normally would have.  I had to wear a head band just to keep my hair out of eyes!

We couldn't believe the size of this tree at the marsh.  It must really like having its roots soaking in water!

If you like turtles, this is the place to be!  I never saw so many turtles in my life.  They were everywhere in this marsh.

Apparently this dead tree is the Bald Eagles favorite place to be.  So many people have photographed this bird and posted their pictures to the "Friends of the La Crosse Marsh" Facebook page, including me.  He just loves to sit in this spot!

I was excited to see another crane as we heading back on the "Grand Crossing" trail.

Back by the start of the trail is the Nature Center which always seems to be closed when we are there,  but they have a nice lookout point with free binoculars.  I enjoyed getting a close up view of the Bald Eagle through the binoculars.

And before I leave, I wanted to share a few older photos I've taken from the wetlands near my house.  Here is some of the backwaters of the Mississippi with wildflowers in the foreground.

And here are some tundra swans in the late fall last year.   They are so beautiful.  

This body of water is only three miles from my house. I use to walk down here everyday to see the waterfowl.  There's also beavers and other water-loving animals here.

I hope you enjoyed my fall visit to the La Crosse Marsh.  Next week we make a second trip back to Galena, Illinois!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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A Visit To The Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge

Have you ever lived in an area for most of your life and discovered something near by that you never even knew existed before?  Well, that is what happened to us one warm fall day.  We were driving home from hiking Grandad Bluff in LaCrosse, Wisconsin and I saw a sign that said "Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge".  I must have driven this road hundreds of times and I have never noticed that brown sign before.  Out of curiosity, when I got home I googled it and discovered it was a great place to bird watch.  Being the bird lover that I am, husband and I decided to check it out the following weekend, and I was so glad we did!

The refuge is a whopping 6,200 acres along the Mississippi River in western Wisconsin. It is an isolated backwater which provides resting and feeding areas for waterfowl and other birds.

The refuge is located in "The Driftless Region" which I talked about in last week's post.  The beautiful steep ridges which escaped the flattening effects of glaciation during the last ice age, provide a stunning scenic background for the backwaters of the Mississippi and Trempealeau Rivers.

The main attraction of the refuge is the viewing deck which looks out at a large body of water.  There are free high powered spotting scopes available for use on this deck.  I know you can't tell in the pictures above or below that there were any birds, but I guarantee you there were plenty of waterfowl to be seen.  They just don't show up I far away photos, but I definitely saw them through the scopes.

You can get a little closer to the birds if you take a short hiking trail off to the side of the viewing deck.  It is called the "Pine Creek Dike Trail".  It is a 0.52 mile loop flat gravel trail that is surrounded on both sides by water.

On this trail you can get farther out onto the larger body of water that is seen from the viewing deck.

This area reminded me of so many of the refuge marshy lands I visited in Florida, except we didn't have to watch out for alligators!

We were blessed on this trail to not only see plenty of waterfowl in the water but also flying above in the air!

And of course the scenic backdrop of the bluffs of the Driftless Region was breath-taking.

I apologize for the grainy, over-bright photos.  The sun was very harsh this day.

I brought my binoculars so I could see the birds more closely.

It was so warm on this fall day.  I believe it was in the sixties, which is quite unusual for Wisconsin.  But we sure have been enjoying a warm fall and it has provided a lot of extra outdoor activities for us to do.  I picked up these black joggers from Amazon.  They are so soft and comfy and I love the high waist!  They are thin, which works perfect for hot days or you have a warm house like I do.

In the refuge there are nine trails to choose from.  We only hiked on two, so I hope to go back and hike more!  If hiking is not your thing, or Grandma & Grandpa need time out of the house to enjoy nature, you can also see the park on their scenic 4.5 mile Prairie Edge Tour Loop.  This loop is accessible to vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians.  The drive takes you through three major areas of the refuge including sand prairie, blackwater marsh, and hardwood forest.

After driving the loop, we did get out and hike one more trail before leaving the park.  It took us through a forest and several nature signs pointing out things of interest.

One of these points of interest was turtles!  They looked a like closer in person than they do in this photo, so I drew an arrow pointing to a log in the water filled with turtles enjoying the sunshine.

As always, it was on the drive back to our home that we saw even more spectacular wildlife, this time it was a bald eagle sitting majestically in a tree.  Bald eagles are as common as robins in our neck of the woods, but I still get excited every single time I see one!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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