Lake Andes NWR, Lake Andes, South Dakota: Sandhill cranes are a stunning sight as they rise from the prairie of Lake Andes Refuge. The lake for which the refuge is named is a typical prairie lake, dependent upon snowmelt and rainfall run-off. About every 20 years or so, it is dry. The wildlife vary according to the season and the precipitation cycle. In wet years, there is an abundance of white pelicans, tundra swans, and waterfowl of every description. In dry years, the upland birds—the ring-necked pheasants, wild turkeys, prairie chickens, and sharp-tailed grouse—take over. The refuge also hosts white-tailed and mule deer, herons, yellowlegs, sandpipers, badgers, coyotes, red foxes, raccoons, and a variety of songbirds. Bald eagles hunt and fish here, but their night roosts and nests are at the adjacent Karl Mundt refuge, closed to the public because the eagles’ sensitivity to disturbance during nesting. However a road through that refuge offers ample opportunities for observing the eagles and other species found there.
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