Necedah National Wildlife Refuge

Necedah National Wildlife Refuge Visit our official website: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/necedah This is an official page of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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To learn more about our social media efforts, and to find a list of official USFWS social media sites, please visit our social media hub: http://www.fws.gov/home/socialmedia/

Our agency is known for our scientific excellence, our stewardship of lands and natural resources, and our dedicated conservation and wildlife professionals. While we hope that this page will help you stay connected to our w

ork, we also hope that it will keep us connected to you and the issues you care about. Your participation on this page is vital and all feedback is welcome--both good and bad. Your perspective is welcomed and we hope that conversations about the Service can be productive, fun, and engaging. More than 44,000 acres of WONDERFUL Wisconsin's Great Swamp carved by glaciers hosts habitats including wetlands, prairies, savannas, and forests. Necedah NWR is home to wildlife as large as black bears, wolves, and deer to the tiny Karner Blue butterfly. We have over 220 bird species that also call Necedah NWR home at various times of the year. Red-headed woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice spend all year here. Spring and fall migrations host thousands of cranes and waterfowl species. Enjoy a rare glimpse of whooping cranes from spring through fall as well as sandhill cranes, great blue herons, and many, many more. Enjoy outdoor activities year round from sunrise to sunset! Hike, watch wildlife, take pictures, participate in public programs, discover the visitor center and enjoy nature! The Visitor Center and Karner Korner Nature Store are open Monday through Saturday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm, excluding Federal holidays, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

This year’s line-up, of speakers, vendors and interactive booths for the 4th annual Birds, Bees, and Butterflies Event, ...
05/30/2026

This year’s line-up, of speakers, vendors and interactive booths for the 4th annual Birds, Bees, and Butterflies Event, offers much to get excited about!

🐦10:00 am: Hikes, activities and booths by expert naturalists, local vendors, nature crafts, photo booth and more available for the day!

🐝Amazing Activities:
Whooper Wander Trail Challenge Low Impact Hike and Toddler Trot through the Ellen Allan Outdoor Areas starts At 10:00. Everyone is welcome to join a low impact hike to the Ellen Allan Outdoor Area. We’re counting birds, bees, butterflies! The walk is perfect for families with young children or anyone wanting to go slowly and discover what nature offers that day

Jessie Fritsch of Buzz in Art Studios will have her work in the fireplace room for the month of June. She will be at the refuge from 10-3 on the 13th to talk with visitors about her beeswax paintings. Weather permitting, she will do periodic demonstrations behind the visitor center throughout the day. https://buzzinartstudios.com

🤩Vendors of the day, selling merchandise relating to BBB include:
Nature inspired art quilts, quilted cards, handmade cards, mixed media, jewelry by 3Moms & Daughters
Art prints and wildlife by Meg Anderson
Photography prints, cards, framed art, mugs, magnets by Amy Van Norman
Pollinator-friendly shrubs perennials, trees, small fruits and herbs grown by Flutterbuzz Farm LLC
Local raw honey and beeswax products from Ards Bees
WI wildlife crocheted plushies by Sera Scurto
A Wild Life Photo Booth with Mike Tucker

🍓Food on Site:🌭
Bake Sale – Friends of the Necedah NWR
Brat Stand - Friends of the Necedah NWR
Freeze-dried fruits and vegetables by Sunday Acres LLC
The Local Lemon Food Truck - fresh squeezed lemonade, loaded specialty lemonades, hotdogs, nachos, soda, chips, bottled water.

🏡Inside the Visitor Center:
Puppet Shows:
Craft your own puppet to take home while supplies last
Fold cranes and butterflies
Shop the Karner Korner Nature Store - nature related gifts, books, art and more inside the Visitor Center

🕵️‍♀️Naturalist Led Areas:
Birds of the Refuge – Necedah National Wildlife Refuge Biological Staff
Queen Bumblebees - Summer Ranger Sam
Seeds and Plants of the Prairie – Alex Bouthilet, Wild Rivers Conservancy plant walks IDing and talking about the ecology and importance of native species
Bald Eagle Nests Exploration – Naturalist Donna Richardon
How Birds Spread Seeds – Jr. Ranger Phoenix
Birds, Bees, & Butterfly Kids Crafts – Volunteer Naturalists

💙Event happens rain or shine! Plan to spend the day with us before heading out at 3:00 pm

🎉Speakers:
Preregistration is encouraged for our featured speakers:
Speakers’ presentations are held in the visitor center classroom
Call 608-565-2551 and leave a detailed message
11:00 am: Gardening for Hummingbirds with Cathy Rock
1:00 pm: Karner Blue Butterflies of Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and Hike

Photo Collage: Upper left Karner blue butterfly, Activities Birds, Bees & Butterflies Free Outdoor Event, Saturday June 13, Tri-colored queen bumblebee flying into white blueberry blooms and green leaves of the bush by Katie Goodwin/USFWS

https://www.facebook.com/share/17ijq3GmTM/

Did you know the endangered Karner blue butterfly lives on the refuge year-round? Currently, they are in their adult for...
05/29/2026

Did you know the endangered Karner blue butterfly lives on the refuge year-round? Currently, they are in their adult form and can be seen flitting to and from flowers sipping nectar! Joins us
Saturday, June 13th to learn more about the birds, bees, and butterflies that call Necedah home!
See the event happenings at: https://www.facebook.com/share/1DBc2cJnUv/

Photo: Female Karner blue butterfly with open wings on a wild lupine leaf by Katie Goodwin/USFWS

05/29/2026

We are excited to offer a variety of summer camps this year!

Check out the links in the comments below to learn more and register! 🕷️🎣🌿🐸

Welcome to the world little ones! Five cygnets have hatched and joined their parents to explore, feed, grow, and rest in...
05/26/2026

Welcome to the world little ones! Five cygnets have hatched and joined their parents to explore, feed, grow, and rest in the refuge’s nursery.
Did you know that trumpeter swans were once extirpated, or completely missing, from WI’s landscape? Confirmed nesting ended in the late 1800’s and the last recorded trumpeter sighting in WI was in 1937, just a few years before the creation of Necedah National Wildlife Refuge.
50 years later, thanks to dedicated biologists from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and passionate conservationists of the The Trumpeter Swan Society, reintroduction of trumpeters started in WI in the late 1980’s. Numbers slowly started to recover. The first breeding pairs during the reintroduction were recorded again in the wild in 2000. Bird losses were still happening by shootings, lead poisoning, and power line collisions. 20 years later we are seeing a stable, growing and healthy population of migratory trumpeter swans through the efforts of habitat restoration, wildlife reintroduction, working with partners, education and adaptive management to prevent the loss of North America’s largest waterfowl species.

Photo: Two larger white trumpeters that stand 5 feet tall and can weight 35 pounds welcoming 5 white, fluffy newly hatched cygnets to the water to find invertebrates to eat. They will grow from less than 1 pound to around 20 pounds by fall! Photo courtesy of Lauren McLaurin

This coming weekend is all about birds and flowers (and moms!), if you forgot, pick her up and meet the Friends at Lupin...
05/07/2026

This coming weekend is all about birds and flowers (and moms!), if you forgot, pick her up and meet the Friends at Lupine Loop at 9:00 am for a 1 mile hike!

Whooper Wander Trail Challenge 2026
Spring Wild Flower Hike
Saturday, May 9th • 9 am

Spring Wild Flower Hike
Trail: Lupine Loop
Distance: 0.8 miles
Hike leaders: Shirley & Denise
Map Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/6BPgihLKZChMqeqV8

Directions: From the town of Sprague, WI (on Hwy 80), follow 9th Street W to Sprague Mather Road to Bewick Trail N. Take the d**e between Goose and Sprague pools, following the d**e to the Lupine Loop trailhead. Meet the hike leaders at the trailhead. Plenty of parking is available.

Experience spectacular spring wildflowers and the excitement of migrating birds. Don’t forget your camera. From the endangered Karner blue butterflies to the rare whooping cranes, this trail, skirting the backwaters of Goose Pool, does not disappoint! Be sure to check out the photo blind nestled along the shoreline to look for both birds and other wildlife.

This is a link to our Trail Challenge brochure. A paper copy is available at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XhIp2ldIyT-5JV-GOz1mR3IacFnIpz_A/view?usp=drive_link

Weather Forecast Necedah, Wisconsin: https://tinyurl.com/ycy2kw4a
For information on trail or road conditions, call the visitor center at (608) 565-2551.
Trail update: Due to recent rains, there are a few wet spots. Waterproof boots are recommended.

“The best education does not happen at a desk, but rather engaged in everyday living – hands on, exploring, in active re...
04/29/2026

“The best education does not happen at a desk, but rather engaged in everyday living – hands on, exploring, in active relationship with life.” ~ Vince Gowman

Necedah’s Cardinal Afterschool Program students discovered prairie life last school year creating a 3D visual representation of the prairie above and below ground in the visitor center hallway for all to learn with them. This year they investigated “What’s the Buzz?” of the prairie – the special interdependence between plants and pollinators! Students observed, field sketched, and made notes about small creatures they found, bumblebees, butterflies and flowers last fall in the Nature’s Discovery Area. This winter they practiced painting skills and created visual garden posts representing the connection between some of the rarest and unique pollinators of the refuge.

Interconnected Species Trios:
🐝Rusty patch bumblebee, bee balm, and solder beetles
🪻Karner blue butterflies, wild lupine, and ants
🦋Monarch butterflies, common milkweed, and milkweed beetles

While students discovered all about these species they continued to sketch, paint and create a way for visitors to see and learn about them year-round! Necedah 3rd grade students added accidental pollinators and “beneficial bug buddies” like the beetles and ants onto the garden posts. They hope everyone will to try to find those little critters in nature and notice how they help our plants and flyers thrive! 4th grade students looked at plant structures and focused on the plants above the roots this year. Their creative flower blooms painted on the posts help visitors understand the structure and food sources to the different insects of the refuge. The 5th grade students followed up the flying pollinators through the seasons, learning about the connection to these host plants, how they buzz and move pollen around to help everything grow, as well as where they live during different parts of their life cycles. Some migrate, and some live right here on the refuge all year! Check out the amazing life-like pollinators they included for visitors to see in their adult form. High school tec-ed and refuge volunteers assisted with inground post supports and outdoor bracket fabrication. Check out the fantastic welding on the base plates when you visit!

Students hosted an unveiling of this year’s hard work and learning to their peers and families. Each team of students shared amazing facts, connections, and their excitement for their favorite species. The garden posts are now and will be marking the section of prairie trail in the Nature’s Discovery Area near the visitor center. We would love everyone to visit and see them!

“Children are born naturalists. They explore the world with all of their senses, experiment in the environment, and communicate their discoveries to those around them.” ~The Audubon Nature Preschool

Photos: Students visiting and learning on the refuge, painting large yellow posts with flowers and insects, practicing presentations along the trail, giving presentations at Family Night, and visiting the Rusty patch bumblebee garden planted last year by Sam Toso and Katie Goodwin, USFWS

Address

N11385 Headquarters Road
Necedah, WI
54646

Telephone

+16085652551

Website

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