Tuttle Creek Wildlife Refuge
Manhattan, KS Map This! |
| |
| www.nwk.usace.army.mil/tuttlecreek/Brochure/tuttlecreekbrochure.pdf |
The Wildlife Area is located at the north end of the Tuttle Creek Reservoir from the city of Randolph on Highway 77 north to the city of Blue Rapids and covers parts of Marshall, Riley and Pottawatomie Counties. Camping, off-road vehicle and ATV use, horseback riding and target shooting are prohibited on the Wildlife Area. Waterfowl refuge closed to all activities from Oct. 1 thru Jan. 15. Handicapped hunting in designated area allows vehicle use for hunting. 211 Utility campsites. 500 Primitive campsites. Cabin rentals.
Tuttle Creek Lake lies in the Big Blue River valley just north of Manhattan, surrounded by the wooded valleys and tallgrass prairie uplands of the Flint Hills. At the northern end of the lake is the wildlife area, where migrating waterfowl and shorebirds can be seen in fall and spring.
The best sites for viewing prairie wildlife are the Kansas State University Range Research Unit (2 miles southwest of the dam) and along Prairie Parkway (west of K-13), east of the lake.
The most accessible and probably best all-around viewing area is River Pond State Park below the dam. Here along the river, gadwall and common goldeneye ducks along with common mergansers and ring-billed gulls are abundant in winter.
On occasion, long-tailed ducks and common loons are sighted. In mid-winter bald eagles fish the river pond and perch on the tall trees of Eagle Island. East of the outlet channel, ponds support beaver and muskrats year-round and American wigeons and northern shovelers in winter. Listen for western chorus frogs in March and April and bullfrogs and cricket frogs in summer.
During migrations, watch for warblers, sparrows, and ospreys. Herons are often seen in summer. In the grasslands along Prairie Parkway you can see upland sandpipers as well as loggerhead shrikes and western kingbirds perched on fence posts. Eastern meadowlarks, dickcissels, grasshopper sparrows, and mourning doves are also frequently seen. On the Range Research Unit, greater prairie chickens boom in the pre-dawn light of April and May.
A couple of miles west of Stockdale Cove, on private land along Mill Creek, tall sycamores hold large stick nests of great blue herons.