North Dakota has more wildlife refuges than any other state. Grafton, North Dakota, is near the Ardoch National Wildlife Refuge on the shores of Lake Ardoch, the Red River State Recreation Area, and the Kellys Slough National Wildlife Refuge. It has beautiful landscapes, including prairies and grasslands, and a wide variety of plants and animals. Here are some of the animal species you can see in the area.
Birds
Birds thrive in Eastern North Dakota’s prairies and marshes, and it’s an ideal area for bird watching. The beautiful red-headed woodpecker is crimson, black, and white, and it breeds in oak, ash, maple, elm, and cottonwood forests in the summer.
Raptors in the area include American kestrels, bald eagles, golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, Northern harriers, prairie falcons, burrowing owls, and short-eared owls. American kestrel males have a distinctive, rust-colored back and tail. Burrowing owls have big, yellow eyes, and they often use black-tailed prairie dog and Richardson’s ground squirrel burrows as nests.
The Kellys Slough National Wildlife Area is less than an hour away from Grafton, and 12 species of ducks nest there. More than 35,000 shorebirds visit every year, including mallards, gadwall, tundra swans, snow geese, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, Northern shovelers, Northern pintails, redheads, canvasbacks, and wood ducks. Wading birds include great blue herons, American white pelicans, great egrets, American bitterns, black-crowned night herons, and sandhill cranes.
You can also see yellow-headed blackbirds, marsh wrens, western meadowlarks, Hungarian partridges, greater prairie chickens, Nelson’s sparrows, upland sandpipers, Eastern and Western kingbirds, tree swallows, sedges, Baltimore orioles, orchard orioles, least flycatchers, willow flycatchers, sharp-tailed grouse, and savannah sparrows. Near the parking area, there’s a restroom and an elevated platform with a powerful telescope for viewing wildlife.
Mammals
Beavers live in lakes, rivers, creeks, and streams, and they often build dams to raise water levels. They live in wood and mud lodges with underwater openings and a platform inside above the water. Muskrats look like small beavers, and they build shelters from plants or dig burrows. You can also see bison, bighorn sheep, elk, moose, mule deer, and white-tailed deer. Pronghorn antelope are the fastest land mammals in North America, and they can run more than 40 miles per hour.
There aren’t many caves near Grafton, but you could still occasionally see bats roosting in rocky crevices. Native species include the big brown bat, the little brown bat, Townsend’s big-eared bat, the long-eared bat, and the long-legged bat. You could also spot black bears, mountain lions, badgers, black-footed ferrets, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, gray wolves, raccoons, river otters, and minks.
Reptiles and Amphibians
Native reptiles and amphibians include Canadian toads, plains hog-nosed snakes, and smooth green snakes. Spadefoot toads have catlike eyes and small spades or spurs on their back feet that they use to burrow underground during droughts. Great plains toads are white with dark brown spots, and they can inflate their bodies to look bigger to predators. Northern leopard frogs are green, gray or brown with black spots, and they can leap up to 6 feet. In the winter, they hibernate underwater.
Wood frogs are only a few inches long, and they hibernate underneath rotting logs, leaves, and rocks. They almost freeze solid in winter, and then they thaw in warmer weather and hop away. Boreal chorus frogs are even smaller than wood frogs, and they make a distinctive chirping sound during their mating season in spring. Prairie skinks, also called black-banded skinks, are covered in longitudinal black and brown stripes, and they can detach their tails to escape from predators. Snapping turtles can live for more than 50 years, and they’re named for their powerful jaws.
Fish
Many people fish on Lake Ardoch for Northern pike, carp, catfish, and walleye. You can fish from the beach in the summer or go ice fishing in the winter. Icelandic State Park is on the shores of Lake Renwick in Cavalier, about half an hour away from Grafton. It has a boat ramp and a dock for fishing, and canoe and kayak rentals are available. You can catch bullhead, crappie, Northern pike, walleye, and perch. The park also has a 200-acre wooded area along the Tongue River, where you can see a variety of other wildlife species.
Other fish you could catch near Grafton include rainbow trout, brown trout, salmon, sturgeon, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and rock bass. A fishing license is required for anyone over the age of 16.
Plants
If you don’t feel like looking for wildlife that can often be elusive, you can check out the wide variety of wild plants that the area has to offer. Prairie roses are white or pink, and the rose hips are edible. They’re closely related to domestic roses. Purple coneflowers resemble daisies, and people often use them in herbal supplements. You could also see bright reddish-orange prairie lilies or purple prairie clover, an important component in many types of hay.
Black-eyed Susans are favorites in gardens, and wild bergamot has a lavender or pink color and a minty scent. It’s also called bee balm or horsemint, and people use it in Earl Gray tea. Red baneberry is also called black cohosh, coralberry, and rattlesnake herb. It has fluffy white flowers and bright red, poisonous berries. People often plant it in gardens because it’s resistant to pests. Running serviceberry has white flowers with five petals and edible, dark purple berries that look like blueberries and taste great in pies.
Goldenrod has distinctive yellow flowers, and sugar maple trees are common sources of syrup. They also have beautiful fall foliage. Other native plants include wild plums, box elder, paper birch, juniper, and blue verbena.
These are just some of the diverse species of wildlife you can see near Grafton. The area’s beautiful landscapes also make excellent backgrounds for photos. What animals have you seen nearby? Contact Rydell Outlet and let us know what species you’ve noticed. We can also help you find a great ride to explore the area.
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