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ND Bird Photography

Lostwood NWR

National Wildlife Refuge · Prairie Pothole Region · Prairie Pothole Region; one of the largest publicly owned tracts of northern mixed-grass prairie left in the US

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NWRNational Wildlife RefugeVerified coordinates48.65309, -102.38610

Location

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Verified coordinates from the source record. Still confirm the current entrance and road status before travelling.

Best windows

April to May for migration viewing; nesting peaks in June; grassland songbirds best late May to July (dawn chorus)

Peak months in the record: Apr, May, Jun

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Sunrise, sunset, light and weather

Pick any day of the coming week for sunrise, sunset, the low-light windows and the forecast at Lostwood NWR.

Working out this week's days…

Weather at Lostwood NWR

Open the map for this day

Access, fees and cautions

Unverified access note

Access notes

Wildlife observation, hiking, and photography. Vehicle-based birding on refuge roads; walking permitted. Contact refuge staff for species-specific advice.

Fees

Free

Cautions

Remote; poor road conditions in wet weather; hunting seasons in fall (upland/deer); heavy mosquitoes in summer.

Check current access

The notes on this page come from the guide's fixed records and can age. These links open what the managing agency publishes right now — always the last word on access.

Managing agency

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (National Wildlife Refuge)

Find “Lostwood NWR” on the USFWS siteUSFWS public-lands homeRefuge visit rules and closures

Agency pages are found by searching the place name, so the search may list nearby units too — no page here is a stored link to a specific trailhead or gate.

Before you drive

Roads and travel conditionsNDDOT statewide travel informationWeather forecast for this pinNational Weather Service point forecastHunting seasons and shooting hoursNorth Dakota Game and Fish

Your access check

No access check recorded for this place yet. Once you have confirmed the current rules with USFWS, mark it here so you can see how fresh your information is.

This only records that you checked. It never changes the guide's access notes and is not a statement from any agency.

Leaves at this place

Live observation

When leaves turned colour

Historical evidence

Nobody publishes an open fall-colour peak map, so these are the dates volunteers recorded coloured leaves in North Dakota — a handful of plants at a handful of sites, not a statewide peak. Use the official reports below for the wider picture.

Leaf-out and leaf-colour timing: USA National Phenology Network (usanpn.org).

Birds linked to this place (2)

Painted illustration of a Whooping Crane

Whooping Crane

Cranes

Likely this monthFall migration
Spring
mid-April to mid-May
Fall
late September to October

Tap for recent sightings, where to go and today's light →

A rare, luck-based sighting. Five feet tall, white with black wingtips, neck extended in flight (pelicans tuck their necks; don't confuse). Do not disturb; report date, time, location, activity, and leg bands to USFWS Lostwood (701-848-2466), Long Lake (701-387-4397), or ND Game and Fish (701-328-6300).

Illustration, not a field photograph · Real photos on All About Birds

Painted illustration of a Western Meadowlark

Western Meadowlark

Songbirds

Spring
mid-March to April
Fall
October to November

Tap for recent sightings, where to go and today's light →

Singing males on fence posts at sunrise are the classic ND grassland image.

Illustration, not a field photograph · Real photos on All About Birds

Historical photo evidence (0)

These are historical public posts collected as supporting evidence. They are not live sightings and do not guarantee current bird activity. Photos are not copied here — each entry links to the original post.

No collected post is mapped to this place. Several posts name only free-text locations — see the evidence log for those.

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